


The Countdown to Christmas

by MiraMara



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Advent, Christmas, Disappearance, Elves, Eventual Romance, F/M, Letters to Santa, Mystery, Santa Claus - Freeform, flying motorbike, the krampus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 30,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21641695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMara/pseuds/MiraMara
Summary: It's nearly Christmas and production is starting to slow. Marinette must train the new helper, Adrien, but she has better things to do with her time. And then, Alya comes to her claiming elves are disappearing. What can be done to save them and what will happen to Christmas?I had to take a hiatus on this work last year so I've taken down the chapters I had and will be reposting them daily with some small edits and am working on the follow up chapters
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 9
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After losing my laptop cable last year and having to take an unexpected hiatus, I've taken down the chapters, reedited them and will be posting a new chapter daily until Christmas

The countdown to Christmas had begun. Well, really it had begun months ago. After Christmas last year everyone took a couple of weeks off to celebrate and relax before preparations began again. But now it was December and the race to get all the toys completed in time was well and truly on.

And they were behind.

“Come on, Papa, you know I can help. There's less than a month to go, this is important!”

“So is this,” Tom said, pushing open the heavy, ornate, wooden door into his plush office. The large room was filled with with half-finished inventions and toys in various stages of completion.

Marinette followed him in and shut the door behind. Out of nowhere, Tom pulled a ball of dough, threw it down on an empty surface and started kneading it. Whenever things were particularly stressful, baking was always a good way to relieve it and the elves always appreciated the treats. Sighing, she joined him and the two worked silently side by side.

After a short while, Tom spoke. “Marinette, I know you want to help but this is something I need from you. This is very important.”

“Showing around a new recruit? Seriously Papa?” She finished shaping the dough and they put the tray in to prove. “Can't one of the other elves do it?”

Tom closed the drawer with a sharp snap.

“Marinette, that's enough. This is your duty and I will not have you shirk it. You are a Santa and you will act like one. Don't go passing off jobs you don't like.”

Marinette sighed again, contrite this time. “Sorry, Papa.”

Nodding his head, the matter decided, he beamed widely.

“Now, it's important this new recruit settles in quickly. It seems there's more and more work to be done every year. I'm glad I can trust you with this.”

“Okay, Papa, I get it. I'll show them the ropes. When are they getting here?” Marinette asked, glancing around as though the person in question was hidden there.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders Tom guided her towards the door again.

“Adrien will be arriving later tonight. You'll meet him tomorrow and start his training immediately. Now, your mother needs you in the armoury and I've got some more baking to do before I do my rounds. Have a good day and I'll see you for dinner, Sweetie.” And with a kiss on the cheek Marinette was out the door and on her way to the other side of the estate.

She exchanged several greetings as she went.

From across the crowded gift wrapping room, Marinette heard a familiar shout.

“Marinette! Mari!”

Her best friend dodged and dipped across the room, practically dancing around the other elves. She made it through without crashing into anyone or causing a disaster a bright smile on her face.

“Hey, Alya,” the girls hugged and Alya's expression turned sombre.

“Girl, we need to talk. You got a minute?”

“Ah, not right now. I need to go to the armoury. Rain check?”

Alya folded her arms. “Alright, but this is important. I'll definitely catch you later. Today, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” Marinette agreed, already backing quickly towards the door smiling, her hands held out placatingly. “The patisserie? Three o'clock?”

Satisfied, Alya waved Marinette on her way. She glanced at her watch. It was just past eleven. Hopefully, whatever her mother needed from her wouldn't take too long and she'd be able to get back to the sewing room. This was the last chance she'd get before the new guy got there and she'd become completely useless.

“Marinette! There you are.”

“Hi, Maman. Papa said you wanted me for something?”

Marinette bounced on her toes, her hands clasped behind her back. She was eager to leave already, the calming hum of the sewing machine calling to her.

“Yes, yes, come in. It's about time we get started.”

* * *

“Can you believe it, Alya? She wants to start training me in martial arts. Now! As if there isn't enough to do this close to the big day. And Papa has got me babysitting some new guy. It's like they're doing everything they can to stop me helping the other elves with manufacture. I don't get it!”

Marinette threw her hands in the air and slumped back in her chair feeling defeated. Alya took a sip of her coffee then pulled out a hefty notebook and pen. As one of the lead reporters at the North Pole, Alya always carried it with her so Marinette paid it little mind.

“I feel you girl. It seems like we need all hands on deck at the moment. I'm picking up some extra shifts in wrapping and Nino has had to put some of his old shows on loop so he can help out. And you know he hates doing that.”

Marinette nodded. Nino's radio broadcast went a long way to help with motivation and she knew how much pride he took in it.

“That's what I mean. So why wont they let me help?”

“I don't know, girl,” Alya said. “I don't know what to tell you. But listen. I asked you to meet with me because I've found something that might be really bad, and I think it might be linked to why we can't seem to keep to schedule and are so far behind for Christmas.”

Marinette sat forwards in her chair. Alya adjusted her glasses and turned her notebook so Marinette could see.

“Production has been steadily reducing for the past week. It's not much but despite all of us pulling extra shifts, fewer toys are being made.”

“That's... weird,” Marinette acknowledged, running her finger across the numbers on the page. Then she shrugged. “But I guess people are getting tired. Everyone's working really hard, it would make sense that they're getting slower.”

Alya nodded. “I thought that too, but then I noticed that there seemed to be some people missing from the mess hall at dinner time so I checked out the CCTV and saw this.”

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped the screen in Marinette's direction. The image was grainy but she saw what looked like an elf on the screen. Whoever it was stopped dead, only their mouth moving, although there was no one there they could be talking to. Then, there was static on the screen. Once the picture came back, the elf was gone.

“That was Juleka. I've checked and no one has seen her in days. And she's not the only one.”

Alya was getting excited, like she always did when she was on to a scoop, but Marinette could tell she was worried too.

“Have you spoken to my dad about this?”

Alya shook her head and put her phone and notebook back in her bag. “I couldn't even get a meeting with him. You know how busy he is right now. But I was thinking that maybe _you_...”

“Nuh uh,” Marinette said. “I'm hoping you're wrong about this, but even if you're right, what can _I_ do? Maman and Papa have my schedule so tight with training the new guy and training with Maman, I don't even have time to help on the floor. It's not like Papa would listen to me about this anyway.”

“But-”

“I'm sorry Alya. If I can, I'll look into it some. Maybe Juleka is just stressed and is sick in her room? It's nearly the big day, I'll do what I can if I get some time. For now, we really need you to help out on the floor. Are you wrapping this evening?”

Alya sighed, rubbing between her eyes. “Yeah... I'm not dropping this though. I'm going to find out what's happening and I'll prove it to you.”

Marinette smiled, placing her hand on top of Alya's.

“I know you will. And I believe you, something strange is going on. I'll leave it to you. But for now, I've got to get ready for the new guy tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

Despite setting several alarms at five minute intervals, each on at an increasing decibel, it took Sabine Cheng coming in and shaking her awake to finally rouse Marinette from sleep. Blearily she looked over to the clock and when her eyes finally focussed she gasped, sitting suddenly upright.

“Oh no! I overslept!”

Sabine shook her head with a smile as she turned to walk out of the room.

“Breakfast is on the table. Get dressed quickly, it's nearly time to meet Adrien. Hurry now,” she said, and then was out the door.

Marinette threw herself out of bed and ran to her wardrobe. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ She had deliberately set an early alarm so that she could spend a little time sewing before breakfast, since she wouldn't have time in the day any more. There was a cute dolls outfit that she had designed and she was itching to bring her creation to life.

Throwing on her clothes she ran out of the room. Breakfast was a hurried affair, just Marinette and her mother.

“You're father is already in his office with Adrien giving him a basic rundown. Once you've finished head straight there, no dilly dallying, okay?”

The teen popped the last bite of croissant in her mouth and kissed her mother on the cheek. Three minutes later she was out the door, pulling her arms through her jacket as she ran, narrowly avoiding tripping over or running in to several elves along the way. She left a wake of affectionate grumbling behind her, sorrys thrown over her shoulder like scattered snow flurries as she dashed across the estate.

With the briefest of knocks Marinette was through the door panting slightly, her cheeks flushed. Her father laughed in the booming way he had, deep and resonating but joyful. It was one of the things that made him such a wonderful Santa.

“Adrien, m'boy, this is my daughter, Marinette.”

She turned her eyes on the person standing dwarfed beside her father. She had had no preconceived notions of what Adrien would be like beyond the nuisance his presence was to her own plans. With his blonde hair and brilliant green eyes he was the stereotypical golden boy. How did someone get their skin to glow like that in the dead of winter at the north pole, for goodness sake? And even though she could concede that he was objectively quite beautiful – there really was no other word to use – she wouldn't be won over by a pretty face. What made Adrien so special that she had to drop everything to babysit him?

The boy in question scratched the back of his neck, his eyes cast down and a steady tide of red washing over his face.

“Uh-um... hi, M-Marinette. I'm Adrien. Thanks for taking care of me.”

She eyed his outstretched hand warily but with a pointed look from Tom took it, smiling.

“Hi, Adrien. It's not a problem, really. Part of my job is to help new people settle in. I hope you found your room to your liking.”

It was as though her words broke through a dam. He looked up from the floor, pinning her eyes within the piercing gaze of his own and dazzled her with the brilliance of his smile.

“It's amazing! Thank you. I've heard so many great things about this place and I've wanted to come here for as long as I can remember. My father never wanted me to though. But Maman always talked about this place. She was an elf here for years and she said it was some of the best years of her life and all the stories she used to tell really made me want... ah, sorry. I didn't mean to give you my life story I'm just... I'm really excited to be here and to meet you, Marinette.”

“You wanted to meet... me?” Marinette asked.

Adrien nodded his head enthusiastically. “I've heard so much about you and I just...” he spread his hands and shrugged.

The pink of her cheeks was no longer from the run across the compound. Tom clapped his hand on Adrien's back and the younger man stumbled. It went completely unnoticed.

“Excellent, excellent. Well now that the introductions are out of the way, it's time you showed Adrien around properly and started his training. No time to waste. Away with you both and I'll catch up with you later today!”

The door closed heavily behind them.

“Argh, alright,” Marinette said, rubbing her hand across her face. “Where should we begin? I think maybe...” she hummed, looking at the map of the place outside the office. It was a large and maze-like complex and there were maps dotted around to help visitors and the occasional confused elf. She clapped her hands together decisively. “Gift wrapping. It's the simplest process but still really important. This way,” she announced, waving her hand and striding off without checking to see if Adrien was following. “We have highly trained elves who specialise in taping, papering and ribbon tying. So, why do you think gift wrapping might be such an important aspect of the whole process?” She spoke as she walked, her short strides quick and purposeful.

“I-I... um... Well, it's because of the aesthetic. On Christmas morning when the children go to their Christmas tree the first thing they'll see is the wrapping paper and if it doesn't look good, some of the magic might be lost.”

Marinette stopped briefly and Adrien nearly ran into her. “That's exactly right,” she agreed, picking up the pace again. “The magic is the most important thing and we have to do everything we can to ensure the magic stays alive in the hearts of children for as long as possible. We take pride in every part of the process and everyone works really hard to make that happen.”

Marinette pushed open the door to the cavernous room, hundreds of elves surrounded by masses of brightly coloured paper and long streams of ribbons filling the space in organised chaos. She lead Adrien over to a table with a stack of unwrapped boxes.

“We'll start you off with the basic box shape.” Deftly, Marinette pulled a sheet of wrapping paper across the worktop, placed a box on top of it and and with just three movements, had the whole present neatly wrapped. “There,” she smiled widely, inspecting her handiwork. “I went a bit slower so that you could properly see what I was doing. Take a moment to observe a couple of the other elves and then I want you to try yourself, okay?”

Adrien nodded curtly, his eyes already wondering around the room taking in the flurry of activity.

“Do you think you could show me ju-” Adrien started but Marinette was already walking away. Alya stood by the doorway waving excitedly, her phone clasped tightly in her hand.

“Sorry Adrien, I'll be back in just a minute. Have a look around, okay?”

“Oh, yeah... okay.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Marinette, you have _got_ to see this. I've got proof that elves are disappearing. I thought about what you said yesterday and you were right. I can't just jump in on speculation. I'm a reporter and I needed to investigate properly, get all the facts and not make assumptions, right?” Alya was talking a mile a minute and barely paused for breath before continuing. All Marinette could do was nod along. “So I went to Juleka's quarters, you know she's room-mates with Rose? Well I went, and Rose hasn't seen her since that day when I saw her on CCTV.”

With a manic gleam in her eye, Alya clutched Marinette's arm. Marinette bit her lip thoughtfully.

“I don't know, Alya. It's still not really proof, is it. It's definitely suspicious but it's not enough.”

Alya nodded vigorously and pointed her finger in Marinette's face.

“I thought you'd say that so I did some more digging. Juleka doesn't like to socialise much. I can't find any photos of her on Elfbook and her family are travelling so she doesn't have anyone. There's nowhere for her to go, so where is she?”

Marinette tugged on the ends of her pigtails in agitation.

“Argh, I don't know. It does sound bad but what can we even do?” she wondered. “I'm going to see Maman later today so I'll talk to her about it and see if she has any ideas but I've got Adrien to deal with right now. If you find anything else, let me know but for now...” she shrugged then pulled Alya into a swift hug. “I'll speak to you later.”

Ten minutes after leaving Marinette came back into the wrapping room. On opening the door, she couldn't contain her gasp, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide as saucers and she took in the scene before her. A pile of haphazardly wrapped presents were stacked against one wall, the sight a garish patchwork of reds, greens, blues, purples and golds. Rolls of the paper were strewn across the floor and in the middle sat Adrien, tangles of ribbons tying his hands together and wrapped around his body. She turned her head to take in the rest of the room and noted with relief that everything else was as it should be. Most of the elves were minding their own business, too conscious of the counting down clock – quite literally, there was a large digital countdown as a constant reminder on the wall – that they hadn't even noticed the disaster taking place in front of them.

That was, except for one blonde elf who was flapping around Adrien, her perfectly manicured nails plucking uselessly at the strings binding him.

“Oh Adrinkins! What are we going to do? We don't want to get you in trouble. I'll untie you somehow.”

Fists clenched by her sides, Marinette marched over to where the two were, her anger painted clearly on her face.

“Well if it isn't Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe drawled, her eyes flicking disdainfully over her.

“Chloe,” she growled, her brow furrowing further. “What are you doing here? I thought you were assigned to painting?”

Chloe flipped her freshly highlighted and styled ponytail over her shoulder, giving Adrien a simpering smile as she did so.

“I'm just here helping out my darling Adrikins, since he'd been left all alone on his very first day. Me and Adrien go _way back_. We are absolute bff's.”

Marinette stared in disbelief then shook her head.

“And you call _this_ helping?” she gestured lamely at Adrien's bound form. “What happened here?”

Deftly, she pulled a pair of tailors shears from a loop on her belt and make quick work of the bindings. He smiled sheepishly at her.

“I don't know how it happened. I did like you said and observed some of the other elves. Chloe helped me get started and I... wrapped...” he trailed off and cast a glance at the pile he had been working on. The smile dropped from his face. “Ah...” She sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Okay, we can fix this. Chloe,” she snapped, her voice authoritative and Chloe flinched, her face betraying her annoyance. “Go back to the painting room. I dare say your... _expertise_ is sorely missed right now. We haven't got long,” she looked pointedly at the countdown clock. “So you need to get back to work.”

Muttering under her breath, Chloe begrudgingly went on her way, smiling and waving flirtatiously at Adrien before she slipped out the door.

“Adrien,” he flinched as well, his mouth already shaping an apology before a slice of her hand cut him off.

“This is my fault. I shouldn't have left you alone. You weren't ready for it. But we need to fix this and fast so do exactly as I say.”

And with that, Adrien was a star pupil, following her instructions to the letter – handing Marinette tape and paper as requested, placing a finger where needed so she could tie the perfect bow. In shockingly short time, his haphazard heap became a perfect stack of beautifully wrapped gifts.

“Wow, Marinette. You're amazing!” Adrien exclaimed. Marinette went pink at the praise.

“Oh, no, I-I really don't... There are loads of elves better at this than me. I'm nothing special.”

Adrien shook his head.

“I think you are.”

She looked away before the blush could get much worse. She could feel the heat coming off her face.

“It's time to show you the next department anyway. Let's go.”

“Okay!” Adrien followed cheerfully behind. The rest of the morning went much more smoothly. Marinette showed Adrien the ropes and by the time the lunch bell rang he had the basic skills of wrapping, painting, cogs and clockwork (something Adrien particularly enjoyed - “it's just physics!”) and the assembly line.

“After lunch I'll take you to design, textiles and then to the armoury,” she told him as she moved towards the mess hall.

“Armoury?” Adrien asked, his brow puckered. “Like weapons? At the north pole? Is that... necessary?”

Marinette grabbed a sandwich and a drink and headed to a table. Adrien picked up a salad and followed behind.

“You'd be surprised. The whole naughty/nice list doesn't sit well with some people.”

“That's a real thing?”

Marinette chuckled and wiped some breadcrumbs off her face with a napkin.

“No, of course not. No kid is _just_ naughty. And no kid is completely nice. I think it's just one of those stories that keep kids in line before the big day. Like the Krampus.”

Adrien swallowed.

Nobody wanted to get a visit from the Krampus.

Just as they were leaving the hall a booming voice called out.

“Marinette!”

It was her dad and he did not sound happy.


	4. Chapter 4

For the second time that day, Marinette found herself standing in her father's office. Even now, when he was clearly angry, he was working away, hammer and nails in hand as he built a wooden train.

When he called her out in front of the mess hall she had been completely embarrassed. Adrien stood watching from the sideline as Tom Dupain had strode across the room, his long legs eating up the space.

“My office. Now.”

Luckily, Nathaniel had just been passing on his way to the design room. So now, Adrien was with him and here Marinette was, getting a thorough dressing down.

“That was extremely irresponsible!”

“Well, I-”

“Not to mention dangerous!”

“It's not-”

“And you're very lucky that the situation wasn't worse! What do you think would have happened if you'd left him alone in the assembly line? Or even worse, in clockwork?”

Marinette bowed her head.

“Papa, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have left him alone like that, especially on his first day but Alya-”

“No buts,” Tom interrupted her, putting down the sandpaper block and turning his full attention onto his daughter. “You are next in line to be Santa, Marinette. Do you know what that means? You can't be skipping out on your duties just because your friend shows up wanting a chat.”

“It wasn't like that! She-”

“I don't want to hear it, Marinette. People look to you for guidance and if they see that you're slacking, what do you think they'll do? You can't just expect people to follow you and do as you ask if they have no respect for you. You must lead by example.”

Marinette ducked her head again.

“You're right, Papa, and it won't happen again. Adrien and I rectified the problem this morning and production wasn't affected too badly. And he's doing well fitting in so far. I think... I think he'll do very well here, Papa.”

Tom stood, his large frame a stark contrast to her own petite one. Marinette looked up at him uncertainly then squeaked when he scooped her up into a bear hug.

“There was a problem and you solved it. You made a mistake and you owned up to it. I am proud of you, Marinette. You will make a fine Santa one day. Now go,” he said, setting her back onto her feet. “You still have responsibilities and I have a lot of work to do.”

* * *

She met up with Adrien and Nathaniel in the design room. A large portfolio lay open between them and Nate was gesturing animatedly, his excitement over whatever he was showing Adrien was palpable. As she approached she realised what it was.

“Are you looking at... _my_ designs?” she squealed, leaping forward and slapping a hand down on top of the sketches in an attempt to hide them. She dragged the portfolio away and slammed the cover closed. “Nate!”

The red-head blushed deeply, his eyes shifting guiltily.

“Well, I showed him what I was working on and he had a look around but he said he wanted to see what you had done and I didn't think there would a problem...”

Nathaniel trailed off, looking helplessly at Adrien who shrugged and mouthed the word 'sorry'.

Marinette glared at them. “I think we've seen enough here, don't you think? You get the idea. This is where all the toys are designed, I'm sure Nate did a great job showing you around so let's head on over to the armoury.”

Carefully she placed her portfolio into a drawer and gently shut it, turning the key and pocketing it.

Nathaniel went back to his own work, his eyes flicking back to them. As they walked, Adrien tried to engage Marinette in conversation.

“You know, those designs of yours... they're pretty amazing.”

Marinette picked up the pace although Adrien's longer legs managed the new speed easily.

She waved a hand dismissively. “It's just something I like to do in my spare time. A hobby, that's all. Design this close the the big day is really just skeleton staff since the big focus is on production so I don't get to do anything in there right now. Not that it matters, really...”

Adrien stayed silent as he walked beside her.

“As the future Santa I have to put my focus on more important things like training and supervising, stepping in wherever help is needed and doing what I can to reinforce defences which is where we are headed now. We have a large store of defensive weapons and a state of the art security system designed by one of the youngest in the defence team, Max. You might get to meet him later. At this time of day they're all out for training so it should only be Maman in there. Here we are.”

She pushed open a heavy, reinforced door.

Along one wall stood rows of Bo staffs. There were various fencing blades with protective clothing, what looked to be police batons, a locker full of tasers and all manner of defensive weaponry. Marinette barely glanced at them. Behind her, Adrien took careful stock of everything he saw. Her mother stood in the corner talking to an elderly man hunched over a walking cane. The pair looked over to where Marinette and Adrien were and stopped talking. Marinette dashed closer to them leaving Adrien behind her. The older man smiled.

“Hello, Marinette. It's been a while. You must come and have tea with me sometime soon.”

Marinette bowed her head slightly and smiled back.

“As soon as Christmas is over I will. I've missed our chats.”

“Indeed. Well,” he clasped Sabine's hand warmly before turning towards the door, offering Adrien a friendly nod. “I must be going. You young people are so busy, I wouldn't want to get in the way. Not like in my day. If there is anything I can help with, you know where to find me.”

And with that, he left.

“What was great-uncle doing here, Maman?” Marinette asked. It wasn't unheard of to see Master Fu wandering around the complex but he usually kept to his room, especially this close to Christmas.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. He just wanted a chat. Ah!” Sabine spotted Adrien and her face lit up. “You must be Adrien. I've been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Sabine. I'm Marinette's mother. I run the defence force for the compound. If you like you can come here to do some training. I saw on your record that you are quite the keen fencer.”

He smiled brightly, the skin around his eyes crinkling.

“That's right, Mrs Cheng. But I haven't fenced in a while. Perhaps I could come again after Christmas is over and I have some more free time?” he asked, his manners impeccable.

“That would be wonderful,” Sabine said, her own smile growing. “And please, Sabine.”

“Sabine,” he acknowledged.

“Ahem,” Marinette coughed pointedly. “Well, you've seen the armoury and that concludes our tour. I'll take you back to your room and later on you'll take our aptitude test which will place you in the department most suited to you. If it isn't to your taste then in a few months you can transfer to another department.”

“Marinette, darling, before you go. Please come to the training room tonight. Starting today I will need you here everyday from six o'clock.”

Marinette scowled. “Alright, Maman. I'll see you tonight, okay?”

Grabbing Adrien by the arm she pulled him forcefully behind her out of the room.

“Uh, Marinette? You're hurting me.”

Marinette gasped, immediately releasing his arm and he flexed his fingers.

“Thanks. Hey, umm... if you're going to be doing training tonight, do you think I could tag along? I'd love to see what you guys are doing and maybe start doing some training as well?”

“Ah, I'm sorry Adrien, I don't think that would be a good idea. It's just- oh, hey, Alya, Nino!” She waved at the approaching pair and once again pulled Adrien behind her.

“Guys, this is Adrien.” The boy in question waved awkwardly then rubbed the back of his head.

“Hey...”

“So, do you think you could do me a favour? I've got to do some stuff with Maman this evening and I was hoping maybe you could look after Adrien-”

“Well, I don't need babysitting or anyth-”

“and show him what we do for fun around here?” she finished, completely ignoring his interruption.

Nino nodded enthusiastically and slung an arm around Adrien's shoulder.

“Adrien, my man, we are gonna show you how we do, Elf style!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the 5th December which is Krampusnacht. Be sure to be on your best behaviour girls and boys.

With Marinette in training, Adrien found himself with some new faces. It was to be expected really, when the only person he knew here was Chloe. Looking in the mirror one last time he tugged at a wayward lock of hair and smoothed down his shirt. He didn't know what Nino had in mind for the evening but he wanted to make a good impression.

Taking a deep breath, he headed out of the door.

* * *

“Whoo!” he yelled, the sound of his voice swallowed by the electronic music pumping through the speakers and the pew pew of the laser guns. With a camo vest and helmet, he didn't really blend in to the surroundings but it sure helped him feel the part. The slightly blue tint to his goggles protected his eyes from the flashing lights and he crouched low, poking his head from behind a wall and quickly withdrawing it at the sight of a muzzle.

It didn't take very long before he had been shot, a red light on his chest indicating his demise.

Arms raised and a huge grin on his face he came out of his hiding place. After five rounds (of which Adrien _almost_ won one) the pair called it quits and went in search of food.

“Alright man, the mess hall's okay and the food's pretty decent I'll admit, but if you want some proper, messy, can barely hold it together in two hands, out of this world burgers, it has to be Cesaire's. Alya's parents run it. It's _amazing_ , like, you have no idea. You did alright at laser tag, I'll give you that but you definitely need more practice, and if you're gonna be an elf here, we gotta do this right. Burgers. Shakes. Let's get messy.”

Adrien grinned thinking about all those calories and how just one month ago he might have cared. Now? “Bring on the burgers.”

* * *

Marinette took a deep breath and tried to find her inner calm like her mother had just taught her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the imaginary ball of light in her centre. Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't think, just react.

A conk to the head – surely by tomorrow she'd be black and blue – brought her out of her meditative state, or what there was of it.

“Ow! Maman, I'm never going to get this,” she said, rubbing the sore spot. “And I really don't understand _why now_ all of a sudden? Between training with you and showing Adrien around and trying to deal with whatever issues Alya is bringing to me, I haven't been able to help the other elves with Christmas. We're running out of time. Shouldn't we just put this off 'til January?”

Sabine didn't reply but instead spun the Bo in her hands in an elaborate move that Marinette could barely follow before taking up an attacking stance. She sighed and tried to replicate the defensive position from before, adjusting her hands and feet at her mother's instruction.

“The attacks upon us have been gaining in frequency,” Sabine finally said, swiping the staff at Marinette's feet, which she just barely managed to jump over. “And you are of an age where you must learn. Perhaps we should have started earlier but we though we were safe enough. That was my mistake. With threats upon the compound increasing, we are afraid that you might become a target for the more... dauntless among them.” Marinette parried against a few of her mother's attacks before another sweep knocked her flat on her back and the breath out of her lungs. She lay gasping for air, unable to move, her brain going over Sabine's words. Was she really likely to be the target for an attack?

“Very good, Marinette,” her mother's hand grasped her own and hauled her back to her feet with ease. “Let's go again.”

It was several hours later that she finally made it back to her room. The majority of the compound was asleep already with a few night shift workers waving a hearty hello as she passed. Lying in her bed, the cat pillow curling around her head giving her much needed comfort while the events of the past couple of days fought for dominance in her brain. Her peaceful life as designer and eventual Santa – something so far in the distant future that she barely gave it a thought – was turning rapidly on its head, not unlike herself earlier in the evening. It seemed as though there were pieces of a puzzle before her, and maybe it was more than one puzzle and she couldn't fit anything together because most of the pieces were still missing and until she found more, the picture wouldn't be...

Her train of thought became more muddled and less tangible as sleep took her. But that night she dreamed of faceless people coming to take her as one by one the people around her disappeared until finally it was just one green eyed boy stood by her side.


	6. Chapter 6

“Okay Adrien, you've got an hour for this test. There are no right or wrong answers, it's just a general aptitude test which will determine your best fit. You'll get your results as soon as you are done.” Marinette clicked the mouse a few times and the screen changed to say 'begin'. “When you're ready, click here, okay?”

Adrien nodded then swivelled in his chair to look at her.

“What did you get in your test?”

She grimaced slightly.

“I didn't take one. It's not really important what I have an aptitude for. I have to be able to do everything so...” she shrugged and turned to leave. “Just have fun with it.”

“Oh, right...” he agreed but she had already left.

The hour wait was pretty boring but she had been told point blank that she had to stay until he was done. After ten minutes of waiting she glanced up and down the empty hall - painted a sterile white to ensure maximum boredom - and since no one was there, and it seemed unlikely anyone would be heading this way, Marinette pulled her bag out from under her chair. One last glance down the empty hall confirmed she was alone so she grabbed her sketchbook and a pencil. Page after page of the notebook was filled with designs, but these weren't for toys. No games or trains or dolls filled the blank paper, no. It seemed pointless really. There was no way any of the designs would be made into anything. What would be the point? They all wore the same clothes everyday anyway. Still, she sketched and she imagined and she dreamed of a day she might get the chance to bring them to life.

So lost was she in her designs, she didn't even notice that the hour was up until a shadow fell across the shading of a particularly sleek, feathered bowler hat.

“Wow, that looks really cool, Marinette. Except for the feathers,” he chuckled. “I'm allergic to feathers.”

She screamed, her eyes wide then clamped a hand across her mouth and quickly closed the book. Tidying her things away, she avoided looking Adrien in the eyes.

“How long have you been stood there?”

“Not long!” he was quick to reassure her. “I just got here and noticed you were drawing and I was curious so I had a look. I didn't mean to-”

“Well you shouldn't have!” she snapped. “This is my personal sketchbook, it's not for other people to look at and I didn't give you permission to.”

“I... uh I didn't mean to-”

“Why are you here, Adrien? I've been thinking about it since you got here but it's _weird_. People don't just show up this close to Christmas to start training as an elf. I've _never_ heard it being done before, so why?”

She hadn't really meant to snap at him. It wasn't his fault really, everything that was going on. Her parents were the ones who had just up and decided to make all these changes in her life with no warning, Adrien just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had always been secretive about her clothes designs. And now he looked like a kicked puppy.

“Adrien, I-”

“I ran away,” he said, his voice so small she almost didn't catch it.

“You-”

“Ran away. From home,” he confirmed and he gingerly took the seat beside her. Tipping his head back against the wall he looked at the ceiling, his hands clasped tightly in his lap. “Last year, I lost my mother. Well, we both lost her, I guess. And my father hasn't been the same since. I haven't really been out much in the past year at all and if I do it's always with a babysitter. I even started getting home schooled and wouldn't see anyone my own age. Even Chloe I haven't seen in a long while. So... I wrote a letter to Santa...”

Marinette turned wide eyes on him. “You... really? Wow.”

He nodded. “It's stupid, I guess. Kids my age don't write letters to him but... I was feeling pretty desperate. So I asked him if I could come and be an elf. I never really thought I would get a response, let alone that he would agree but...” Adrien shrugged then turned his head to smile at Marinette. It looked a little sad.

The two of them sat in silence, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable and Adrien seemed more relaxed than he had since he'd arrived. After a couple of minutes Marinette reached out a hand then pulled it back.

“So, umm... the test. How did it go?”

Adrien sat up straighter in his chair, the peace of the moment slipping away. “Oh, right. It was fine. I actually got a 50/50 aptitude for mechanics and for defence. So... where do I go from there? Am I supposed to split my time or do I take another test or what?”

She looked at him confused. “What do you mean 50/50?”

“Like, equally suited for both, I don't know. Doesn't this happen a lot?”

Marinette shook her head and got abruptly to her feet. “No, Adrien. This doesn't happen a lot. We need to go and speak to someone. I don't think this has ever happened before.”

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down the corridor.

“Where are we going?” he asked, as he ran to keep up.

“I don't know. My dad, maybe? Or, actually, maybe we should go and see-”

“There you are!”

Marinette stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face but Adrien managed to snag her wrist, keeping her on her feet. Spinning around, she saw Alya racing towards her, Nino following in her wake.

“Hey, listen, we've got a big problem.”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder at Adrien and then back at Alya.

“We've kinda got a problem ourselves that we need to deal with right now.”

Alya grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, drawing her full attention. She looked scared, and Alya was never scared.

“What is it?”

Alya took a steadying breath and it was like the whole building stilled and time slowed.

“Mylene is gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter I'm all caught up to where I was last year. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Thank you for all the kudos and comments, they mean so much to me


	7. Chapter 7

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

Nino stepped forward and took Alya's hand away from Marinette's shoulder, linking their fingers together.

“She means that Mylene disappeared. The same thing happened to her that happened to Juleka. We saw her on CCTV just stop in the corridor and it looked like she was talking to someone. Then there was static and when it cleared she was gone. We've looked and we can't find her anywhere.”

Alya cut in. “She didn't show up for work this morning, and you know Mylene. She wouldn't just let people down like that. She wasn't there for breakfast or for lunch and she hasn't been to the rec room. She's just up and vanished!”

Glancing at Adrien, Marinette assessed the situation. Adrien had a split aptitude test. Elves were going missing. It was time to get her priorities in order and act like a leader.

But she needed help.

Marinette ran to her father's office, Alya, Nino and Adrien following behind. They came crashing through the door.

It was unprecedented to disrupt Santa when he was working, much less this close to Christmas. The four of them had raced across the compound but now they were outside his door they stood nervously. Marinette steeled herself.

This was important.

She lifted the brass knocker and rapped at the door.

“Come in,” boomed her father's voice from inside. Adrien, Nino and Alya cast each other furtive glances but followed Marinette through the door.

“What is it, Marinette? You know I'm very busy. And shouldn't you be training – ah! Adrien. There you are, my boy. I hope my daughter is looking after you well?”

“Oh, yes, Sir. She-”

“We don't have time for this,” Marinette cut in. “Sorry, Adrien.”

He smiled and nodded his understanding.

“Papa, we have something important to talk to you about. More elves are going missing and we've got proof.”

Tom sighed, the weariness momentarily showing in the lines of his skin. He rubbed his hand across his face and gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. He took his own seat facing them.

“Show me what you have,” he said.

Alya quickly switched into reporter mode, pulling her notebook, her tablet and some photos out of her bag.

“At first, we thought it was a bit odd but not really something to be concerned about. This close to the big day elves start to get more sick with stress or burnout – not that we think you overwork us!” she hastened to add, noticing his solemn expression. “We're always happy to put in the extra effort this time of year. Nothing makes us happier than knowing our work makes children happy and helps to keep magic alive and -”

“Yes, yes, I know, Alya,” Tom said kindly, waving away her concerns with one hand while rubbing his eyes with the other. “Please continue with what you were trying to tell me.”

Alya nodded enthusiastically, pushing the glasses up her nose.

“Well, we noticed that there was an unusually high number of missing elves and after investigating, it became clear that they were no longer in the compound. We looked at the CCTV footage and... well,” she turned her tablet to face him and pressed play. He watched in silence.

Once the video finished he turned his attention back to the group.

“Thank you, I'll take that under advisement. Now unless there was something else, I have a lot of work to do and I know you all have-”

“Wait!” Marinette cried, perplexed. “Aren't you going to do anything about this?”

Tom sighed again.

“This isn't something you should be concerning yourself with. We are aware of the situation. It won't go ignored. You all have jobs to be getting on with so if that's everything...”

Marinette frowned.

“There is one other thing, Papa.” She looked over at Adrien and he cocked his head quizzically at her. She looked back at her dad. “Adrien just had his aptitude test.”

Tom's expression relaxed and he smiled at Adrien, the signature twinkle in his eye.

“Oh? And what did you get, Adrien? No, let me guess. Electronics? I remember you having a fondness for video games. Or perhaps wrapping? You look like you would have a good eye for spacial awareness and colour co-ordination. I know it may seem like a menial task to some but a properly wrapped gift is so important! And between you and me, it was my favourite department when I was in training. Oh, what a time we had! Nothing could beat the rush of a new PB for wrap speed, let me tell you. Then again...”

Marinette stifled a giggle, remembering just how Adrien's trial in wrapping had gone.

“No, Papa. He got a split aptitude. Mechanics and defence.”

Tom's wide grin slowly fell to a frown.

“Both? Equally?”

Marinette nodded. Tom's expression grew thoughtful. After a ponderous moment he stood.

“Well then, I think it's time that Alya and Nino got back to work. I appreciate you all coming here but I'm sure you understand that it's all hands on deck right now and gifts will not make themselves.” He walked toward the door, ushering the pair along.

“Wait!” Alya cried, reluctantly allowing herself to be lead out the door. “Don't you think we should help-”

“Let it go, Alya,” Nino said.

She looked like she was going to protest, her expression pleading, but Nino remained unmoved. She slumped. Silently, Nino took her by the hand and they headed down the corridor. The heavy door closed with a definitive clunk. Tom came back and took his chair again.

“Well, it's unusual, that's for sure but a split aptitude is nothing to be concerned about. Adrien, if it suits you I would like you to work in mechanics during the day and then in the evenings you can join Marinette in her defence training. What do you think?”

Adrien brightened.

“I'd like that very much, sir. Thank you!”

“None of the 'sir'. You can call me Tom.”

“Okay, thank you... Tom,” he said.

“Excellent!” Tom boomed, clapping his hands together and rubbing them gleefully. “Well now that that's all settled, I think it's time the two of you headed over to speak to your mother about getting Adrien started with official training. I think she will be very pleased with these developments, Marinette.”

And with no further ceremony the two of them were on their way to defence.

When they arrived, Sabine was already waiting for them. This time, there were a few members of the army using various pieces of training equipment. As well as the various defensive weaponry there was also a vast array of gym equipment. Maintaining a certain level of physical fitness was imperative for the army. It was also used by other elves who wanted to. This close to Christmas however they were all otherwise occupied.

“I'm glad the two of you have come. Your father called and told me about the situation and I agree that we should get Adrien training with you right away.”

She walked as she talked, beckoning them to follow, past the machines and the equipment and the weaponry and further, back to a room that Marinette hadn't been in for too long.

“Before we get down to training, we need to have a talk.”

The room was decorated with classic Chinese designs with a detailed tapestry on one wall, various artefacts and ornaments and a low table in the middle of the room surrounded by cushions. On the table was a put and four delicate china cups.

“Welcome, Marinette and Adrien.”

A short Chinese man in a Hawaiian shirt had stood at their entry. He bowed his head and gestured to the table. They bowed back to him, Adrien a second behind, following suit.

“Please, join me for some tea.”


	8. Chapter 8

After the introductions were made Master Fu performed the tea ceremony in silence until all four of them had a steaming cup set before them. He took a delicate sip and the others did the same. Finally, he settled the cup back in it's saucer.

“I expect you are both surprised to have been brought to my chambers. These are unprecedented times and there have been some strange goings on. But I have been expecting this for some time now.”

They looked at him expectantly and he hummed quietly to himself, briefly closing his eyes as he took another sip.

“I would like to tell you a story, if I may.”

“A story?” Marinette interjected. “Uncle Fu, I'm not sure-”

He raised a hand and she sat back on her heels.

“All will become clear. I would like to tell you about the Krampus. I'm sure you both already know of it?”

Adrien looked uncomfortable.

“It's a fairy tale, a scary story parents tell their children so they behave themselves. He's... the anti-Santa, I guess.”

Fu nodded through Adrien's explanation.

“In a way, you are right. He stands for everything the Santa's do not. Punishment, fear, hatred; this is what the Krampus is.

“But he is not just a story. The Krampus has existed for as long as there has been a Santa, and much like with Santa, it is a role that is passed down through generations. In the beginning the Krampus and Santa were in perfect balance. Santa would give gifts to good children and the Krampus would leave a lump of coal for naughty children.”

“But I thought there was no such thing as naughty children?” Adrien said. His tea sat in front of him barely touched.

“It is true that no child is truly bad. We have both darkness and light, yin and yang, creation and destruction within us. This is in fact where the tensions began between Santa and the Krampus. Originally, the two were friends, but one Santa, many many years ago, decided that they didn't like the idea that we would decide how naughty a child would have to be to not receive a present, and so acknowledged all of the good qualities in all children. All would have a gift.

“This made the Krampus angry. Who was Santa to change something that had always been? So the Krampus took matters into his own hands. This is where everything changed. He began carrying a birch switch which he would use to hit children who committed bad deeds.”

Adrien and Marinette gasped.

“That's barbaric!” Marinette protested.

“Indeed, I agree. His actions were not to be overlooked. And that is one of the reasons we have such a formidable defence here at the North Pole. It is not just to defend ourselves but to defend all children who may be targetted by the Krampus.”

“Well that's great!” Adrien said. “Then the Krampus isn't really a problem, right?”

The tea was cold now and Master Fu set about clearing away the china.

“But if that were the case, I don't think you would be telling us all this,” Marinette said.

For the first time since they had entered the room, Sabine spoke.

“You're right, Marinette. Up 'til now we've been able to manage the Krampus and protect the children. But this year the matter has escalated.”

“Tell me, Marinette; when did the first elf disappear?” Fu asked.

Marinette glanced over at Adrien. He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

“Not long ago. A few days I think? Alya would know.”

Fu hummed. “As we thought. Krampusnacht, the night when Krampus awakens from his slumber, is the fifth of December.”

Marinette leaned forward.

“Are you... you don't think the Krampus is kidnapping the elves, do you?”

Fu nodded sadly.

“Unfortunately the evidence would suggest exactly that. We do not know how he is doing it and we do not know what he plans to do with them but we fear the worst.”

The room fell silent as they took in the information. Adrien was the first to break it.

“Um... this is... bad,” he said, lamely, “but... why are you telling us? Telling me?”

Fu placed a hand on his.

“Because, Adrien, you will be the one to save us all from the Krampus. It is fate that has brought you to us. You and Marinette,” -he reached out his other hand and placed it over hers- “are destined to defeat the Krampus, to rescue the elves and to save Christmas.”

The silence that fell this time was heavier. Thicker.

“You want us to... what?” Marinette practically screeched. “We can't... I can't... I'm not-” She struggled to speak.

“We're not going to leave you unprepared,” Sabine said. “But Uncle Fu is right; this is your destiny. I never wanted this for you. My baby girl.” She reached out and wrapped her arms around Marinette. Marinette didn't move. “I wish that you could have no worries at all, to be with your friends and to do what you love.” Marinette looked at her, her eyebrows pinching together.

“I don't understand.”

“I know. I tried to change it, to do it myself but the magic wouldn't work for me. Not your father, either. He didn't want this for you either.”

“But, if the magic didn't work for you, maybe it won't work for me either. Maybe it's supposed to be someone else. How can _I_ defeat the Krampus?”

Sabine squeezed her harder.

“You won't be alone,” Adrien spoke now. He looked pale but determined. “I don't know about destiny or anything but if we might be able to rescue the elves, if we can save Christmas, I want to try.”

Marinette bit her lip and looked away. She let out a shaking breath.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Adrien asked, reaching his hand toward her then letting it drop to the table.

“Yeah. If whatever the magic is works on me then... I'll try.”

Fu stood and clapped his hands together. Breaking the tension.

“Wonderful news,” he said, his smile small but happy. “I think, for tonight, we should sleep. It is late. Tomorrow we shall meet again and begin your training.” He walked towards the door and held it open.

“But, shouldn't we start now? If we don't know what he's doing with them then surely-”

“No. Rest is important. We do not yet know where he is. We must train and we must plan. It is time for you both to go. Sleep well, Adrien. Marinette.”

They both bowed to Fu as they were ushered out of the door.

“Goodnight, both of you,” Sabine said, placing a kiss on Marinette's head and squeezing Adrien's shoulder.

The two of them left the armoury together in a dazed silence.

* * *

“Uncle, are you sure about this?” Sabine asked, clutching her hands together to her chest.

Fu nodded sadly, his eyes fixed on the closed door as though he could still see them standing there. He walked over to a table in the corner and ran a reverent hand over the ornate music box that sat upon it.

“It is the only way. They are tied with the strings of fate and it is out of our hands now.”


	9. Chapter 9

“That was...”

“Yeah...”

Silence again.

“I guess we should come back tomorrow then?”

Marinette nodded.

“I think we should just go to bed for now. There's nothing else we can do. I'll walk you home.”

“There's no need for that,” he said. “I don't want you going out of your way.”

They started walking.

“No, I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

“Oh?”

The compound, while completely enclosed, had the look of a normal village. There were houses and shops, cobblestone streets lit up with lamps and an open sky above them. Through the invisible magical barrier the stars twinkled in the inky black with wispy, barely-there clouds drifting lazily across. At this time, most of the elves were home and the warm yellow glow from the windows spilling on to the snow created an idyllic hallmark scene.

“I... I wanted to tell you I'm sorry.” She looked straight ahead as they walked side by side.

“Oh, um, what for?”

She stopped and faced him.

“I should have been training you, looking after you, making sure you fit in but... honestly? I never really wanted to do that. I didn't want to be your babysitter and I was annoyed that I had to so I haven't treated you the way I should have. I kind of... abandoned you and that was wrong.”

Adrien rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh well, you know, I wasn't really looking for a babysitter.”

Marinette slapped her hand over her face.

“I know! And I shouldn't have thought about you like that. This wasn't about you, it was about me. But you're a nice guy, Adrien and I'm going to make sure you have the North Pole welcome you deserve.”

Adrien smiled, one dimple pulling in his cheek.

“That's really nice of you, Marinette, but you know, Nino has already given me quite an introduction to the place.”

She pouted slightly, crossing her arms.

“Okay, well at least let me treat you to a hot chocolate and a croissant at my parents patisserie.”

They were nearly back to his room now.

“Your parents have a patisserie?” he said. “How do they have the time for that?”

They stopped outside his door.

“Oh, Maman and Papa love to bake. It's like a hobby to them. They don't get much chance this time of year but they get involved when they can and I help out as well. So how about it? Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock?”

“Okay, great! It's a date.”

“D-date?”

“See you tomorrow, Marinette,” he called, waving as he disappeared inside.

A tide of red washed over her face. She pressed her palms to her hot cheeks.

“Did he say 'date'?”

* * *

Adrien was already there when she arrived. He brightened when he saw her, smiling and waving.

“Hey, Marinette!”

She picked up the pace then nearly collided with him when she tripped. He reached out his hands, his grip strong but gentle on her shoulders.

Flailing, she stepped back again, snapping rigidly upright. Pink tinged her cheeks.

“Adrien, uh, hi morning! Um, no... good hey! I-I mean...”

He smiled good naturedly.

“Shall we?” He offered his elbow for her to take and she stared at it for a moment before reaching out and tucking her hand into it.

“Yeah, okay, let's go in.”

They entered the patisserie, the bell above the door jingling merrily. An elf – Rose – popped up from behind the counter, her smile bright.

“Hi! Marinette, it's so good to see you! And you must be Adrien. I've heard to much about you. Wow! You really are very handsome. It's so cool that you've come to join us.”

Adrien approached the counter, his eyes wide as saucers as he took in the sweet treats before him.

“Adrien, this is Rose. She's um Juleka's...”

Rose's smile tightened then relaxed again, sadder, smaller.

“Juleka's my girlfriend.”

“Oh, I... I'm so sorry.”

Rose waved away his concern.

“It's okay. Thank you. I try to keep busy. And I believe that she'll be back. Soon. I...” -tears started to well up in her eyes - “I miss her. I love her so much. But she's out there, I can feel it. And I know she misses me too. She'll be back in time for Christmas, I just know it.”

Marinette marvelled at her strength and certainty. There weren't many who would still be smiling. Her hope was palpable.

“So, what can I get for you two? Out on a date?”

And just like that Marinette was flustered again.

“Oh, no... I mean it's not... we're not...”

“Marinette tells me this is the best patisserie in the North Pole so I just had to try it. What would you recommend?”

Ten minutes later they were sat in a corner booth with two large mugs of thick hot chocolate with lashings of whipped cream and a plateful of macarons to share.

Adrien looked just like the cat that got the cream. He hummed happily to himself as he took a large sip of his drink. When he put it down Marinette laughed.

“You've got a bit...” She gestured at his face, covering her laughter with her other hand.

He licked the cream off of his lips, sharing in her laughter but some still clung to the corner of his mouth. She reached her hand across.

“You've missed a bit just... ah.” Her hand dropped away before she touched his face. He picked up a napkin and wiped it away.

“Thanks.”

“I'm glad you came today, Adrien, I'd really like to get to know you better. What do you like to do for fun?”

Adrien smiled happily.

“Well, I really enjoy fencing. My parents were always keen for me to develop a lot of skills so they put me into private tutoring. I also learned piano, Chinese, Japanese, Morse code... ah...” he trailed of at Marinette's look of astonishment.

“Wow, that's incredible. You must be pretty smart to. It's not just anyone who can be filtered into mechanics, you know?”

The tips of Adrien's ears turned red and he ruffled the back of his hair.

“Oh well, I mean, it's really not that impressive. Not like you. You can do everything around here. Plus your designs are amazing. When I was modelling... what?”

Marinette stifled her giggles again and bit her lip.

“No, no, it's nothing, just... of _course_ you're a model as well. How can you not be? You're gorgeous.”

Adrien blushed harder. “You think I'm gorgeous?”

Marinette's eyes widened and she waved her hands about desperately.

“Ah no, I mean, well yeah, objectively like I'm sure some people think you're handsome because you have that whole symmetrical face thing going on and the eyes and smile and stuff but I, you know, I think you're not horrible to look at.”

They both looked away.

“So... um, what about you, Marinette? What do you like to do when you're not designing or training to become the next Santa?”

Marinette brightened and soon they were in a full blown discussion about the pros and cons of various gaming consoles, which Ultimate Mecha Strike was the best and who would win if they were to compete against each other.

They sat chatting, oblivious to the passage of time. The chiming of the clock announced the hour and they both jumped.

“It's time for you to go,” Marinette said, pushing up out of her chair. He stood as well, grabbing one last macaron. “I'll walk you to mechanics.”

It wasn't far but by the time they got there it had started to rain.

“Oh shoot. I didn't bring an... umbrella...” As she spoke Adrien pulled an umbrella out, opening it and handing it to her. “Oh, um... thanks.”

Adrien nodded.

“I'm glad we're friends, Marinette. I was worried about settling in here at the North Pole but you've made it easier for me.”

“Friends,” she echoed.

Suddenly the umbrella closed around her. Embarrassed, she peeked out from beneath it to see Adrien laughing. It was beautiful, lighting up his entire face. His laughter was infectious. She giggled, righting the umbrella.

“See you later, Marinette.” And with a small wave, he went inside the building.

“Friends,” she said again to herself wistfully before she turned and walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette walked along idly, no urgency despite the million and one things demanding her attention. A flash of movement caught her eye and then Alya was there ducking under the umbrella, her curls limp from the rain and her glasses speckled with water. Hurriedly she wiped them off.

“Mari! I'm so glad I caught you. Tell me everything that happened last night. C'mon.” And with that Alya grabbed her arm and Marinette was dragged along behind her best friend.

They ended up in Alya's room which looked more like an investigation room at the FBI than somewhere suitable for sleeping. On a cork-board there were photos of elves pulled from CCTV, strings connecting them and post-it notes in chaotic disarray.

“Okay, before you spill the deets I need to tell you some things that I've found out.”

Pulling out her phone she flicked her finger across the screen several times then turned it to face Marinette. Swiping across again and again she showed her picture after picture of elves, some of them on the board but many more not.

“These are all the elves that have gone missing over the past week. There's no pattern; age, gender, race, orientation, nothing to connect each victim to another. One minute they're there, they talk to themselves, there's static and they're gone.”

Marinette nodded along – she expected nothing less from Alya. “We already know all this, Alya. Although that's a lot more missing that I thought. How many is that now?”

Alya adjusted her glasses and gave Marinette a hard look.

“That's twenty-three missing. The last one was this morning.” She pulled up the last image again to show her the most recent victim. She hadn't realised when she'd been flicking through the pictures.

“Nathanael!”

Alya continued on.

“We've been investigating. Everyone who's gone hasn't taken anything with them. Their rooms are just as they left them and there's no physical evidence at the places they were seen to disappear. But the real question is how it's happening. How are they getting out without triggering the alarms?”

Marinette sat down on the bed. Alya was really good at this stuff. She wasted no time in launching an investigation. She knew all the right questions to ask and where to go to get the answers. She was confident and strong, intelligent, resourceful and brave and Marinette had no doubt that she would jump into danger at a moments notice to save someone. Surely-

“Marinette! I need you.” Alya's voice snapped her out of her reverie. “We need a plan and no one thinks outside the box like you do.”

Biting her lip she looked back across to the board of faces, all blank, emotionless.

“You're right. I can't let everyone down. I can do this. I can save them.”

“Of course you can,” Alya said, no doubt at all in her voice.

“Sorry, Alya but I've got to go. Please keep investigating for me. But, ah-” She was already out the door but turned back, worry pinching her features. “There's no time, and with more and more elves going missing we really need you back in production. I'm really sorry about this and I know finding everyone is important and I'm going to, but getting the toys ready for Christmas is important too. Alya, I need you to do this for me.”

Alya put her hand on her hip.

“Don't worry about me, oh fearless leader. I got it. But I'm gonna keep investigating.”

Marinette smiled.

“I know,” she said. “It's what you do best. Maybe you can start by questioning the friends of the missing people? It can't hurt to ask around. Good luck and I'll catch you later.” And she rushed off.

“But what about-” but Marinette was already gone, leaving Alya frustrated but with a purpose.

* * *

Adrien's shift in mechanics was hard work and the day was long but he found the work fulfilling and interesting. Everyone at the Pole was so friendly as well. Whenever he needed help someone was always ready before he even needed to ask. By the end he felt competent in the role and like he had made a few more friends.

None could be as special to him though as the first people who had taken him under their wing. He left the building waving a cheery goodbye only to find Nino and Alya waiting, a steaming hot chocolate thrust towards him.

“Come on, Adrien, my man. Let's go.”

And without another word they went. Adrien smiled at their intertwined hands then took in the wonder of the village as he followed them. Each house was decorated in a way that he had been brought up to believe was gaudy and over the top and he loved it. It was perfect and filled his heart with the joy of Christmas. In the centre was a tree, bigger even that the one that took centre stage - tastefully decorated of course – in the foyer of the mansion. This one glowed with a million twinkling lights, baubles of every colour and one giant star at the top, shining brightly enough for people to see right from the very edges of the compound.

When they got to the mess hall Nino let go of Alya's hand and threw his arm around Adrien's shoulder.

“Dinner time, dude,” he said.

To Alya's credit she waited until they were sat with their food before she started her interrogation.

Before he knew it she had all the details of the meeting with Fu and Sabine from the night before. She nodded her head sagely, arms folded, food completely forgotten in her quest for information.

“So it's just as I thought,” she mused, not looking at Adrien any more – he was glad to be released from her penetrating stare – but focussing instead on something none of them could see.

“We need to do more to help,” she said now, looking at Nino. “I know Marinette and she's determined once she's made up her mind but this is bigger than her, bigger than all of us.”

Nino and Adrien nodded along.”But what can _we_ do?” Nino asked, taking off his cap to scratch the back of his head and replacing it again. “It's not like we have any idea of how to find the Krampus. I mean, I didn't even know the dude was real.”

Alya tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“For now, obviously, Adrien just has to start training with Marinette-” The boy in question got suddenly to his feet.

“Shoot! Training. What time is it?”

Nino pulled out his phone.

“It's a little after six.”

“I've gotta run. I'm late already!”

Alya stood as well, reaching out a hand to stop him.

“Wait! Adrien!”

But he had already gone. Nino shrugged and she dropped back into her seat.

“Why do people keep doing that to me?” Alya whined.

“What can you do?”

She pointed a finger at him, a smile starting to spread across her face.

“That's a really good question, Nino. What _can_ we do? And I think I know exactly where to start.”


	11. Chapter 11

Fu opened his door smiling serenely. He stepped back and swept his arm, welcoming her in.

“Sorry to stop by uninvited, Uncle.”

Fu moved towards the table and lowered himself onto a cushion.

“Not at all, Marinette. What a wonderfully unexpected visit. Sit. Please.”

She sat herself down to find a cup of tea waiting.

“I'm sorry, you were expecting someone. I can-”

“No, no. That is for you,” he said, his smile turning mischievous. “What a lucky coincidence that you should turn up when you did.”

Marinette frowned but didn't comment further.

“I'm very glad that you are here Marinette. Since you have agreed to take on this monumental task there is someone I would like for you to meet.”

He stroked a hand over the music box. Usually situated in the corner she had never paid it much mind.

“I have had this music box for a great number of years now. Inside is a treasure that has been entrusted to me to safeguard. The Miraculous.”

“Miraculous?” she asked, trying to get a closer peek at the box. Now she was paying attention there was an energy to the box. A feeling of something inside wanting to come out. She was reminded of Pandora's box, filled with the evils of the world desperate to escape and she shuddered. But that wasn't the feeling she got from the music box.

“Yes, inside here are the vessels of spirits who created the world. In the wrong hands they could wield unimaginable destruction.”

Marinette must have looked confused as Fu gave her an understanding smile.

“I think it would be best if I just show you. Here.” And he slid a small, black jewellery box across the table to her. She took it carefully in both hands. “Please open it.”

She looked down at the box, hesitating momentarily. The box felt warm and something in her eased just to be holding it. Tentatively she lifted the lid.

There was a blinding flash of light that filled the room. It disappeared and Marinette was left blinking away the spots but there was one that wouldn't leave her vision.

In front of her was a small, pink _something_ with black spots.

“Marinette,” Fu said. “This is Tikki.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Marinette. I've heard so much about you!”

The... Tikki... flew around Marinette's head in excitement, her voice a high pitched flutter. She was like a hummingbird, bright and energetic. But with the black spots and the antennae she was more like a-

“Ladybug.”

“Hmm? What was that?”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to just blurt that out like that, I just thought you look a bit like a ladybug.”

Tikki smiled happily.

“I'm the Kwami of creation. I posses the power of life.” She demonstrated by flying over to a pot plant. It opened into full bloom with her nearness.

“And I give power to anyone who wears the earrings.”

“Earrings?” Marinette asked, then looked back down at the box. She'd been so distracted by Tikki she hadn't noticed.

Nestled in the fabric were two black studs, completely unremarkable to look but there was a glow. Nothing she could see but a feeling, like an after image of the warmth that Tikki gave off. She reached out her finger and touched them. Immediately there was a spark like the build-up of static.

“Try them on, Marinette!” Tikki said, her eyes large with excitement.

Marinette removed her earrings and replaced them with the studs.

“Now say 'spots on!'”

Marinette looked uncertain and Fu nodded his encouragement.

“Ah, umm... Tikki? Spots... on?”

With a streak of pink light Tikki disappeared and as if by magic – because really, what else could it be? - Marinette's clothes changed into a red suit with black spots. Across her face was a domino mask. She felt strong, light, powerful. Her self-doubt was still there - so many people depended on her - but it was muted. She felt more capable, like this was who she was supposed to be.

“Tikki?” she called, looking around her for the Kwami but it was just her and Fu in the room.

“She is inside of you now,” he said, sipping at a fresh cup of tea. “Her power is yours. Fate has tied the two of you together, much as you and master Adrien have also been tied. This, Marinette, is your destiny.”

And for the first time, she believed it.

“Ah, wait. How do I... un... transform?”

“Simply say 'spots off' and you will be reverted back to your usual self.”

She did as he said and once again she was wearing her usual clothes. Tikki floated in front of her, her eyes sparkling and her smile wide.

“Incredible, Marinette! Did you feel it? It's like we were made for each other!”

Marinette touched an earring thoughtfully.

“I... I think I did.”

“That's great!”

“Yes, wonderful indeed,” Fu agreed. “But as with all things there must be balance. Tikki has a partner, Plagg, the Kwami of destruction.”

Marinette raised her eyebrows.

“Partner? Destruction? So this Plagg is... dangerous?”

Tikki shook her head vigorously.

“No, no he's not like... well okay, sometimes he's a bit... and then there was the time with the dinosaurs... but, no! Plagg is on the right side. He's the other half of me.”

Marinette smiled.

“Okay, I think I understand. So... Adrien?”

Fu and Tikki nodded in unison.

“And considering just how compatible Tikki and yourself are, I am even more confident of Adrien's suitability.”

Marinette rose to her feet.

“Thank you so much, Uncle. I'm feeling better about training now with Tikki by my side. And speaking of, I really should get to it. Adrien will be here any minute and I guess he'll need to come and see you and meet Plagg?”

Fu nodded, rising to his feet as well.

“Yes-”

The sound of the alarm cut him off and they paused then rushed out into the armoury. Elves dashed about urgently, pulling on gear and grabbing weapons.

“What's going on?” Adrien had just arrived, looking around him bewildered.

There was an urgency in the air which was infectious.

“I don't know. But I'm going to find out.”

“I'll come with you,” Adrien said, determined.

“No, you need to stay here. Talk to Uncle Fu. He has something important for you. I'm not trying to get rid of you, I promise,” she reassured at the look on his face. “Please speak to him. I'll come and let you know what's happening.”

Adrien nodded his understanding and Marinette dashed off.

“Please come in, Adrien,” said Fu, the calmness of his smile belying the tension in his body. Adrien followed him inside.


	12. Chapter 12

“No, Marinette, you're not ready yet.” Sabine didn't slow down as she prepared to answer the alarm. High grade armour protected every inch of her and she grabbed her extendable Bo staff.

“But, Maman, isn't this exactly what I'm training for? I can help!”

Sabine stopped then, her face stern.

“No. You've not had nearly enough training. These elves have been doing this for years. It's only been a handful of days for you. We don't even know what the threat is yet.”

“But-”

“That's enough. If you come on this mission not only will you put yourself in danger but everyone else around you who will feel the need to protect you.”

Marinette deflated.

“Look, Marinette.” She placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. “Keep training, we'll need you soon enough. Oh and -” She tucked Marinette's hair behind her ear. “These look great on you.”

Smiling kindly, she turned and jogged off, calling out orders and taking charge.

* * *

Adrien watched slack jawed as the floating, cat like sprite downed a large wedge of cheese. It didn't even look like he chewed it, just one swallow and... gone.

He burped loudly, licking his lips.

“Mmm, so tasty!” He flew closer to Adrien's face. “I don't suppose _you_ have any cheese, do you?”

Adrien mutely shook his head, his wide eyes never leaving the black creature.

“Oh well, you'll just have to stock up. I'm Plagg and I guess you're my new charge. Put the ring on then and we'll get started.”

Adrien looked to Fu who nodded with a bemused smile.

He slipped on the ring and felt a wave from his finger tips washing over his body and leaving him feeling warm and tingly. _Magic_.

“So... what now?”

“Hmm...” Plagg pondered, a small paw tapping his chin. “What was it again? Moon Prism Power? No, that doesn't sound right. Spots on? Hehe that's Tikki, isn't it? Oh, wait. I remember. All you have to say is 'claws out'.”

Adrien looked sceptical.

“You're sure about this?”

“Yup,” Plagg agreed, swooping around the room to investigate the edibleness of various items. He held up a shiny metal ball and Fu shook his head. Shrugging, he threw it behind him and flew back to Adrien.

“Just say that and you'll be transformed into a real life superhero.”

Adrien rubbed his thumb over the ring, it's weight already comfortable and familiar.

“All right, Plagg. Claws out.”

The feeling was incredible. Power flowed through him. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he inspected his hands, clad in black leather, the claws sharp. He touched his face and felt the mask. Jumping up he twirled on the spot, trying to get a better look and a tail came into view. He grabbed it. It looked like a belt. Touching the top of his head he felt them.

“Ears? Wait, am I some sort of cat-boy? Plagg?”

Fu got to his feet, coming to stand before Adrien.

“Plagg has been absorbed into you and is the source of your power. With him you will be able to accomplish incredible feats.”

Adrien nodded. He could already feel that he was stronger, his reflexes quicker. He could even hear more clearly.

“If you would like to detransform simply say the words 'claws in'.”

“Okay, claws in.” And in a whoosh of light and sparkles he was back to normal.

“Oof, that sure made me hungry. Can we go get something to eat now?”

Adrien laughed.

“Sure, but first we need to find Marinette.”

“Well I hope _she_ has food,” he grumbled, tucking himself into the warmth of Adrien's pocket.

* * *

Marinette was preparing to knock when the door to Fu's quarters swung open, Adrien standing there surprised.

“I was just coming to find you,” they said together.

“What's happening? What was the alarm for?”

She shook her head. “I don't know. Some kind of attack on the compound”

“Well, shouldn't we help?” he asked in earnest.

“There's nothing we can do right now. Unless... maybe...”

She grabbed his hand.

“Let's go!”

She pulled him along through the streets of the village towards the centre. The alarm was sounding even here and people were congregating, voices drowning out the sound of it.

“What should we do?” Adrien called, still following her. She swung into the radio station which had stopped playing any music.

“Nino, mind if I borrow this?” she asked, not waiting for his permission before grabbing the microphone and indicating to the 'on air' light. He nodded his understanding and flicked a switch so that it lit up red.

She took a breath.

“Hello everyone, this is Marinette! I just wanted to reassure you all that the alarm is nothing serious.” As she spoke the alarm stopped sounding and she sighed in relief. “There was a small attempt at entry to the North Pole but our highly trained defence squad were immediately on the case. There's nothing to worry about.

“To thank you for your continued support and hard work we will be offering free hot chocolate and cookies at the Christmas tree.”

She covered the microphone with her hand.

“Go to the patisserie, tell them I sent you. Please, Adrien. I need you.”

With one curt nod he was out the door and away.

Already outside she could see the panic dying down.

She uncovered the microphone.

“And now to resume the regular programming is our resident DJ, Nino!”

He ruffled her hair as he took over the mic and she squawked in protest.

“You heard her, folks, it's back on with the show and do I have a track for you...”

“Where's Alya?” she mouthed to him and he pointed behind her. Through the window she saw her best friend waving.

Closing the door behind her she gave Nino a thumbs up.

“What's going on, girl?” Alya asked.

“There's something I need you to do for me. But you can't tell anyone, especially my parents.”

Alya smiled, wrapping an arm around Marinette's shoulders.

“Anything for my best friend.”

In a room at the back of the radio station Alya had set up her base of operations.

“My room was too small and I was starting to get on Mylene's nerves with all the stuff about. I think she was starting to feel down about all the missing people as well and I didn't want her to think I was rubbing it in her face or whatever so I moved it all here.”

Marinette nodded.

“That's great. And actually kinda perfect. I need you to access the radio and CCTV if you can?”

Alya's raised a quizzical eyebrow.


	13. Chapter 13

“Really? _You_ want _me_ to hack into the army's radio signal to see what they're doing?”

Marinette grimaced.

“It's bad, I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you this. Forget I said anything.”

“No... you probably shouldn't...” Alya said, one finger pressed to her lips.

“You're right. Sorry. Never mind. We should get back to making the toys now.” She turned to leave. Alya's hand came out to grab her, halting her.

“Although,” she said, “I think maybe I _could_ be persuaded.”

Marinette turned hopefully.

“I mean, _obviously_ I'm not normally one to stick her nose in where it doesn't belong...”

Marinette sighed.

“You're teasing me.”

“Of course I'm teasing you, girl. Here.” She walked over to a metal box covered in dials, turned a few and flicked a switch. There was some white noise and she adjusted another dial. The voices came through clear.

“It just so happens that I've already got the frequency. Isn't that lucky?”

“Yes,” Marinette said, a small smile on her lips. “Very lucky.”

The two of them sat and listened. There wasn't much going on. She could hear her mother issuing orders. A knock on the door made them both jump. Adrien stood there smiling, his hand giving a small wave. Marinette beckoned him in.

“It's all calmed down out there now and everyone's headed back to work. That was a great idea, Marinette.”

She smiled but a burst of sound stopped her responding.

“Wha-” The girls shushed him and gestured to a chair. Silently he sat.

_'Is that him?'_

Static and the sound of running.

_'Wait, no, stop!'_

Someone must have been holding down the button on their radio. They weren't trying to communicate.

_'I don't want... what is this? No!_

More static. Sabine's voice came through.

_'What's going on? I need a status report. Now!'_

There was silence, Marinette, Adrien and Alya leaned closer, and then the same person spoke again but he was almost unrecognisable, his voice flat and expressionless.

_'Yes. I understand. Thank you.'_

Loud static filled the channel, so loud the three of them covered their ears. It was gone as quickly as it came.

 _'Who was that? What happened? Somebody talk to me!'_ Sabine shouted.

There were general murmurs. No one knew.

_'Did anyone see the Krampus? Was he here?'_

Murmurs of disagreement filled the channel again.

_'Alright, we need to regroup. Everybody back to base.'_

Calls of ' _Aye,'_ ' _Understood,'_ and _'Yessir,'_ could be heard before the radio went silent.

They sat silently for a minute. Alya finally reached over and flicked the switch to 'off'.

They had been so focussed on the radio that it had felt as though they were there. It was jarring to find themselves in the normalcy of this room now that it was off. The greys of metal instruments and the black and white photos of the missing people all around them when only moments ago they had been out there, beyond the safe protection of the compound, in the snowy terrain with the army.

And now it would be another face added to the wall.

“We need to go back to the armoury,” Marinette said, her face pale.

Adrien was already getting up from his chair.

“I'm coming too,” Alya declared, her own chair scraping back, the sound harsh in the quiet room.

“No, Alya. You've got a job to do.”

“Marinette, I have friends in defence, you know. My sister...”

“I know, Alya. I'm sorry but right now there's nothing you can do. Maman won't let you in anyway. I'm sure Nora is safe. She can take care of herself. And she wouldn't be happy if you didn't do your job. I'll let you know when I get there, I promise.”

“Mari, please...”

Marinette had never seen Alya look so desperate. It broke her heart.

“I'm sorry.”

Marinette and Adrien went out the door passing Nino on their way through. Alya threw herself into his arms and he held her as they rushed away.

* * *

When they reached the armoury there was chaos. Everyone was shouting and Sabine was trying in vain to keep order. In one corner there was a first aid station but despite some obvious injuries, no one was headed there.

“Oh, Marinette, you shouldn't be here,” Sabine said, running weary fingers through her hair so that it stuck out in places. It would be funny in any other circumstance.

“What's going on, Maman? What happened?”

“I can't talk about it right now,” she said. “But I could use your help now that you're here. A few injuries were sustained and those elves need to go to medical. I also need to get everyone organised and reports filed.”

Marinette and Adrien nodded.

“You deal with the reports, Maman, and we'll start organising everyone.”

“Thank you, Marinette, Adrien.”

She strode over to her office leaving the door open.

In all this, Marinette had almost forgotten about Tikki but she could feel her warmth now, giving her confidence.

“Adrien, you take the right side and I'll go left. We need to assess those with injuries and those who need to file reports. Send everyone else home, okay?”

He gave her a two fingered salute and then off he went. Watching him, he was capable and dependable and was good at talking to people. She felt lighter just having him there.

A tall woman with dreadlocks and muscles to spare walked past her.

“Nora!” she shouted and Nora turned, her stern expression relaxing into a wide smile.

“Marinette!” she cried, sweeping the smaller girl up into a bear hug then putting her down again. “I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?”

“Oh, great, you know,” she hedged. “Hey, are you going home to dinner today? Alya was talking about you earlier.”

Marinette gave her a quick once over to check for injury but other than a bruise on her forearm she looked unharmed.

“Well, I need to file my report with Mrs C. I was on the team that... well, that's not important.”

Marinette didn't probe.

“Well, okay. As long as you're not injured then put your armour and weapons away and head over to Maman. Then you should go home for the day.”

Nora laughed heartily.

“No injuries, I'm fit as a fiddle. And you know I don't carry a weapon, Mari, just these.” She held up her fists, grinning.

With Nora off, Marinette sent a quick message to Alya.

Alya 16:22 - Nora's fine. She'll be home for dinner x

Putting her phone away she got back to the task at hand.

It took nearly two hours to process everyone and when the room was empty, Marinette slumped to the floor in exhaustion. Adrien lowered himself down next to her. The wall was cool and comfortable at their backs. The door to Sabine's office snapped closed and they looked up. She was walking towards them, her face showing the same exhaustion they felt and more.

“Everyone has gone home now. Thank you two.”

They got to their feet.

“What happened, Maman? Was it the Krampus?”

Sabine sighed.

“Come. I am hungry and you both must be too. Let's go home and we'll talk.”


	14. Chapter 14

“We've never been attacked like this before,” Sabine said. “They were so organised.”

She took a sip of her water and looked down at her plate. She had yet to touch any food.

“Was it him?” Tom asked. It was unusual for him to join them for dinner, he'd normally be holed up in the workshop until the early hours and would often be already gone before they got up in the morning.

Sabine shook her head.

“We didn't see him. But for another separate targeted attack at the same time we're fighting against the Krampus? It seems too much to be a coincidence.”

“So what... who was attacking us?” Marinette asked, poking at her food with her fork.

“There were six attackers, as far as we can tell.” She picked up a bowl. “More potatoes, Adrien?” Adrien nodded, his cheeks filled out like a cute hamster and he held out his plate for her. Sabine put one hand on her cheek smiling brightly while she ladled on more food.

“Maman,” Marinette chided. “The attackers?”

Sabine nodded.

“They wore strange clothes and had powers like I've never seen. One could control the weather.”

Adrien swallowed. “What, like the X-men?”

Sabine laughed and Marinette rolled her eyes with a smile.

“I suppose so. There was one who was creating things, just pulling them out of thin air with his pen. Another one seemed to have control over birds.”

“Where are they coming from?” Adrien asked.

Sabine's mouth tightened.

“That we do not know. And after we unfortunately sustained injuries I made the decision to fall back to protect the team. We...” She drew in a breath. “We lost someone.”

Her words were met with silence.

“I wanted to go after him. I wanted to. He disappeared. He... Roger...”

She closed her eyes, her hands bunched into fists on the table.

Tom stood and came to stand behind her, bending down to wrap his large arms around her tiny frame. Marinette reached a hand across and placed it over one of her fists.

After a moment she straightened up and Tom sat back down without a word.

“Sorry about that, Adrien.”

He shook his head.

“Now then,” she shook out her hands, a small but sincere smile on her face. “About your training. I understand you have met Plagg and Tikki. That uncle Fu was right and you are the fated two.”

The kwamis were in another room catching up and eating.

Adrien nodded enthusiastically.

“I'm keen to start training with Marinette,” he said. “I hope we can help to stop anyone else going missing and to find everyone else.”

He picked up a bread roll and tore a piece off, popping it into his mouth and humming appreciatively.

“This is so good, Mrs Cheng.”

“Sabine,” she reminded him and he nodded. “And Tom made those.”

“It relaxes me,” Tom said now. “I'm glad you enjoy them, Adrien.”

“Yes, now that you have Plagg and Tikki we have no time to waste. You're training will start tonight in earnest. I will give you some time after dinner so we'll go to the armoury at eight.”

After that the meal was more cheerful. They laughed and chatted and it was the happiest she had seen Adrien look.

After food Tom raised an enquiring eyebrow at Marinette.

“Really?” she asked. “Can we?”

Tom nodded and she could hear his booming laugh following her as she scampered up the stairs to her room, grabbed the gaming console and ran back to the living room, quickly setting it up. Shyly she held out a controller to Adrien.

“Wanna play?”

He smirked and grabbed it from her.

“It seems a bit rude to completely annihilate someone in their own home. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you.”

Marinette put a hand to her heart.

“Such a gentleman I have never seen! You would do that? For me? Can you believe this, Papa? Chivalry isn't dead after all!”

Tom chuckled, patting Adrien on the shoulder.

“I wish you luck. You're going to need it.”

The first round was over quickly. True to his word and to his detriment Adrien really did go easy on her. She crushed him.

He sighed in defeat, hanging his head between his arms which were outstretched, his wrists propped on his bent knees where he sat on the floor. Marinette was sat cross-legged beside him. He looked at her out the side of his eye.

“That was amazing. I thought I was good at this game. I've never seen anyone play like you. How do you do it?”

She smiled, putting down her controller and reached into her pocket, pulling out a string of brightly coloured beads. She hesitated then held out her hand, the bracelet in her open palm.

“My lucky charm,” she said, rubbing it with her thumb.

“What? You can't be serious.”

Marinette smiled fondly at the beads, closing her fingers around them and holding them tight. Taking Adrien's hand in hers she placed the bracelet in his.

“Try playing a couple of rounds with it. You'll see. Besides, my Dad wants to play you now. You're definitely gonna need it. He taught me everything I know.”

Tom snagged Marinette's controller from the floor.

“But not everything I know!” he said with a grin. “Get ready, Adrien. You're about to see how we do it, Santa style!”

He posed ridiculously, one foot up on the coffee table until Sabine came past and scolded him, slapping his leg affectionately.

Adrien did better after that and Marinette saw him rubbing at the bracelet more than once.

_Cute._

It was a nice break from reality, a couple of hours of video games and banter. By the end, Adrien and Tom were trying to outdo each other on puns and Marinette and Sabine spent most of the time groaning and rolling their eyes while holding in laughter.

Sabine leaned against the kitchen island, a cup of coffee in hand watching the boys. Marinette sat with a hot chocolate on a stool.

“He's a good boy, that Adrien,” Sabine said now, blowing the steam across the top of her drink before taking a sip. “I like him a lot. Cute too.” She smiled.

“Maman,” Marinette groaned.

“Polite, fun to be around, good looking. He's quite the catch.”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“It's not like that. We're _friends._ ”

Sabine nodded, taking another careful sip.

“We are! That's all. Friends.”

“Okay honey,” Sabine said and Marinette groaned again.

She hopped off the stool.

For a small window of time Marinette could almost believe that she was just a normal girl having a night of fun with her parents and a friend. But the time flew and it was Sabine who broke the spell.

“I think it's time we got to training now,” she said, putting her coffee cup in the sink. Tom got to his feet, slapping his thighs as he did.

“And I really must get back to the shop,” he said, grimacing. “It's been a lovely evening, Adrien, and I hope we will have many more like it in the future. Good luck with your training, both of you.” And with a kiss on Marinette's head and a quick embrace with Sabine he was gone.

“Now then. If you'd like to fetch Tikki and Plagg, we'll go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, I am going to shoehorn in all my favourite scenes from the show


	15. Chapter 15

Marinette felt self-conscious now in her costume. Undoubtedly there was an aerodynamic quality to the design but it was a little form-fitting for her liking. And no pockets?

Adrien on the other hand had pockets to spare. His suit at least looked armoured. The cat ears and the toe beans though...

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked her and she covered her mouth, shaking her head.

He ruffled his hair, embarrassed, and his fingers brushed the ears on top of his head.

“Okay, I admit, it's a bit ridiculous.”

“Yes...” she agreed, circling him. “But there's something missing... something... ah!” She went into her bag, blocking his view as she quickly worked and then turned, her hands behind her back.

“What?” he asked, suspicious.

“Nothing.” She sidled closer, turning her body so he couldn't see what was in her hands.

He went to grab her but she spun away, laughing. Before they knew it, it was a game. They danced around each other, back and forth, lunging and pulling away with superhuman grace and speed until finally he caught her, his arms wrapping around her, pinning her own arms to her body.

“Gotcha!” he crowed but then they both realised the intimacy of the situation, panting from the chase, faces too close.

“Ah.” He let her go as quickly as he had caught her, blushing and taking a step back.

“Ah, umm... yeah,” she said.

“So... what are you hiding?” he asked now and she brought her hands in front of her. In them was the large silver bell from the end of one of her elf shoes.

“Something to complete your outfit,” she explained, stepping towards him and securing it to the top of his zip so it sat just under his chin, the silver reflecting the light.

He flicked it and it rang out merrily.

“So I'm a pet cat now?” he asked playfully.

“My Chat Noir,” she agreed.

“Well then, that must make you m'ladybug,” he teased, capturing her hand in his and bowing low.

Sabine walking through the door put an end to the frivolity.

* * *

Marinette dodged again and again, bringing up a shield to protect herself when the staff came too close for her to escape it. She had no chance of grabbing her own weapon which she had lost earlier, too busy defending against the attack to fight back. Sabine was relentless, coming for her over and over until she was on her back panting for breath, her shield on the floor too far for her to reach and her mother's staff right in her face.

Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

Sabine held out a hand and after a mutinous second Marinette grabbed it, letting her mother haul her to her feet.

“Again,” Sabine instructed, picking up the shield and handing it to Marinette. The younger woman wiped the sweat from her brow, her face red from exertion.

“Maybe we could take a break?” Adrien asked. He had been running an assault course while Sabine and Marinette practised. He looked nearly as tired as she did.

Assessing them both, Sabine lowered her staff.

“Five minutes. Grab some water.”

Together they went to their bags, grabbed their bottles and took long pulls of the water. Having had their fill they both flopped to the ground. Lying side by side they stared up at the ceiling, not having the energy to do more than look at the glaring lights.

“What time is it?” Marinette wondered aloud, not really after an answer but asking anyway.

Adrien grunted, his hand moving as if to check but didn't have the energy for that either. His hand dropped back to the ground.

“What even is time?” he asked instead. She blinked slowly, the lights above softening into a haze. Then she giggled. It was short lived – air was precious. But then Adrien giggled and turning her head to look at him, she couldn't stop the bubble of laughter escaping her and when Sabine came back they were both rolling on the floor, laughing.

“What's so funny?” she asked, amused.

Marinette opened her mouth but all that came out was more laughter which set Adrien off again.

Sabine chuckled.

“Alright, maybe it's time we called it a night. You've both worked hard. Change back, be sure to feed Plagg and Tikki – they've worked hard too – and then go to bed.”

She looked at them both for a moment longer, sighed, then grabbed her own bag and walked away. Before she walked out the door she called over her shoulder. “Don't stay too long. You need to rest. And remember to shut off the lights before you go.” And the door closed behind her with an echoing clang.

Their giggles subsided and they lay again side by side in silence.

Marinette was the first to break it.

“Tikki, spots off,” she said quietly and a warm pink light enveloped her.

“Plagg, claws in,” Adrien said, his own light green. The two kwamis flopped to the floor beside their charges. Marinette reached for her bag on the floor above her head, her fingers just glancing the strap so she stretched a little further, unwilling to get up. Success. Inside she found a box of chocolate chip cookies – Tikki's favourite – and offered her one before holding them out to Adrien.

“I don't suppose you have any cheese?” Plagg whined. “Some Brie? Camembert? I'd even settle for some cheddar at this point.”

“Sorry,” said Marinette, “but there's plenty of cookies if you like?”

Plagg harrumphed but took one anyway.

“Sorry, Plagg. I'll buy you some tomorrow, I promise. Any type you like,” Adrien said, brushing the crumbs from the side of his mouth.

A few minutes later the kwamis had fallen asleep. Tucking them away, they turned their heads to face each other again.

“Are we really going to be able to do this?” Marinette asked. She wanted to be strong but the insecurities wouldn't leave her. She wanted to trust in Adrien, her partner.

“I think we will. We have to.”

She nodded soberly.

“You're right.”

Adrien hummed. “The only thing is, once the time comes for us to find him, how will we do it? Are we just going to walk to his hideout? Once we find out where that is. I don't think it'll be right outside the front door.”

Marinette thought about it. Just how far away could he be? Surely he must be somewhere nearby, mustn't he?

“How did you get here, Adrien? Where were you living before?”

There were a lot of things she didn't know about him. She should. It would have been in his file. She could have asked her father more questions. But despite the guilt over having neglected her duty, she couldn't help but feel glad that she could ask him for the details instead of reading about him in a report.

“I lived in Paris,” he said now, a wistful expression on his face.

“Do you miss it?”

“Sure,” he said, looking once again up at the ceiling. “But the things I miss, places, people, well, a place is just a place and I love it here. As for the people; my father, Nathalie, the gorilla, they were all I really had. And for them, especially since we lost my mother, I think taking care of me was just a job. Here I've made real friends. So, yeah, I miss it, but I'm glad I'm here, with you, Marinette.”

He turned his head to smile softly at her.

Her breath caught and she returned his smile.

“I'm glad you're here too, Adrien.”

“And as for how I got here.” He sat up, crossing his legs and she followed suit. “An elf picked me up on a reindeer.”

Marinette touched her chin thoughtfully.

“A reindeer... I guess that could work? But then, we don't want to tire them out before Christmas eve...”

The sound of the door crashing open stopped their conversation. An older woman dressed in all leather, her grey hair a stylish pixie cut and with the energy of a woman half her age sauntered into the room.

“Darlings!” she called out and Marinette got to her feet.

“Nonna?” she cried, breaking into a run and throwing herself into a hug.

“I hear you have a difficult task, my sweet, and I have a little something which I think will help.”


	16. Chapter 16

It was bigger than she imagined them to be. Black and chrome, shinier even than the baubles that hung in the village centre. Gina ran a reverent hand down its length then patted it proudly, smiling widely at Adrien and Marinette.

“A motorbike, Nonna?”

“Your parents are worried, my little sweet pea. I have told them – she is my granddaughter. She is strong and she can do anything. But I also know that you need a little help sometimes. I don't have much to offer, but perhaps a little transportation is just what you need. It's not like you can go off and defeat the Krampus in Santa's sleigh now, can you?”

Marinette spluttered. “But Nonna, I can't even _ride_ a motorcycle!”

“Well how about you, handsome boy? Can you ride a motorcycle?”

Adrien was busy looking at the bike, barely paying them any attention. “Of course! No problem,” he said, crouching down to touch the chrome wheels.

“There we are then, problem solved. Oh, Marinette!” She grabbed her granddaughter, pulling her into a warm hug. “This will be so good for you! And after it's all taken care of we'll go on a trip, me and you. We'll travel the world. See the Taj Mahal. Climb the Burj Khalifa. Explore Machu Pichu! It will be wonderful, no?”

Marinette smiled uncertainly.

“That sounds great. The thing with the bike though... it's not exactly something you can ride in the snow.”

“Of course not, my dear. You fly it. Snow won't be a problem.”

Adrien peeked up from behind the bike, his eyes shining.

“Just like Sirius Black!”

Marinette rolled her eyes, controlling her smile over Adrien's wonder.

“Well, I guess... thank you, Nonna.”

“Yes, thank you,” Adrien agreed.

“Well then.” Gina placed her hands on either side of Marinette's face. “My beautiful granddaughter, how quickly you have grown.” She kissed each cheek before letting her go.

“And Adrien.” She gave him the same treatment. “Both of you take care of each other. I must dash. Good luck!”

Marinette turned to Adrien. “Well, I suppose that's that problem conveniently solved.”  
She looked at her phone, it was nearly midnight.

“Time for bed, I'm exhausted. Training is going to be intense if tonight is anything to go by.”

Adrien nodded, giving the bike one last look. They flicked off the lights and headed out. Marinette opened her messages. It had been hours since she text Alya and hadn't had a reply yet. It was practically unheard of. She couldn't still be upset, could she? Nora was home now. She checked the message. It was unread.

Which was fine. Absolutely fine.

So what if Alya hadn't gone more than two waking minutes without checking her phone for as long as Marinette had known her? It was an annoying habit but at least you knew you could always get hold of her.

Almost always.

She was probably in a place with no signal. And she was probably really involved with chasing leads on the missing elves.

“-inette?”

“Hmm?” She blinked at Adrien who was waving a hand in front of her face.

“I was just saying, what time are we meeting tomorrow to train?”

She looked down at her phone again, screen black. Adrien's hand came down on her shoulder.

“What's wrong?”

“Ah, umm... nothing. It's probably nothing...” Her eyebrows drew together and her worry echoed in his eyes.

“Talk to me, Marinette. We're partners, right?”

She chewed her lip, nodding slowly.

“Yeah, you're right. Partners. Thanks, Adrien. It probably really is nothing.”

Adrien shook his head.

“If you're worried about it, it isn't nothing.”

She smiled but worry still creased her forehead.

“It's Alya,” she said, bringing her screen back to life and showing him the unread message. “It's just not like her to not reply, you know?”

Adrien nodded.

“Alright, well it's too late to do anything about it right now. She could just be tucked up in bed. She's been working hard. But we'll go to her dorm and check at her parent's place as well first thing in the morning, okay? And I'll see if Nino knows where she is.”

Marinette nodded mutely.

“Then for now, bed,” he urged, taking her arm and steering her away from the armoury.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and clear and for the first time Marinette woke before her alarm.

Immediately she checked her phone. Still unread. She'd gotten little sleep, anxieties causing her to toss and turn most of the night. Now she got dressed and headed to the kitchen.

No one else was up yet. She grabbed a banana and her water bottle and headed to the gym, Tikki following sleepily behind her.

Everything in her ached. Her legs were stiff, her arms were heavy and even her bum hurt from falling on it so many times. She stretched then jumped on the treadmill, taking it easy. Alone, the room quiet save the pounding of her feet, her thoughts came to the fore.

The pressure she refused to acknowledge up to this point, all the expectations everyone held for her – supervisor, future Santa, investigator and now Ladybug, the saviour of Christmas and champion over the Krampus – it all came to an overwhelming head. And so she ran, because it seemed all she could do. Tikki sat snuggled in her bag, watching and chewing on a cookie.

After she showered she found Adrien outside, waiting for her.

“You weren't at home. I thought I'd check here first,” he said, handing her a steaming drink. “I guess I got lucky.” She took it gratefully.

The bitter taste of coffee made her grimace. It wasn't usually something she drank but today she was glad for it.

“Thanks.”

“I've messaged Nino. I've not had a reply yet though.”

“Right.”

They walked together in the crisp morning air, stopping first at Alya's dorm room. Marinette hesitated only briefly before knocking. It was still pretty early. After a moment they heard shuffling behind the door, then a bleary eyed Mylene appeared wearing an oversized Jagged Stone tee-shirt and her hair sticking out at odd angles.

“Oh hey, Marinette. You're here about Alya, right?” She said, rubbing at one eye. “I've already talked to her parents, I haven't seen her. She barely ever comes back at the moment. Her bed wasn't slept in last night. That's all I know, sorry.”

Marinette paled, her heart beat loud in her ears.

“Are.. d-do you mean... Alya's missing?”

“I'm really sorry, Marinette. I wish I could be more help.” Smiling sympathetically, she waved them off and closed the door.

She thought she was going to cry. Her chest constricted, her throat burned but then that fire became determination. Her face set she turned to Adrien.

“We need to find Nino and check CCTV, see if we can find out what happened.”

He nodded, his face pinched. They took off running, Marinette's soreness from the day before forgotten. First to Nino's dorm room, his parents and finally the radio station. He was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe... I think maybe we should check Alya's investigation room.”

“The room I found you guys in yesterday? With the radio?”

She nodded, already walking down the hall. When they got there it looked exactly as they had left it yesterday. Photos on the walls looked unseeing down at them and Marinette shivered thinking that now Alya and Nino could be up there too, their faces blank, emotionless. Alya was always so full of life she couldn't even imagine it.

“There has to be something here to help us. Alya worked so hard to investigate. I just _know_ she would have left _something._ ”

Adrien walked around the room, looking at the faces, giving each one his focussed attention.

“Didn't she keep all her notes and stuff on her though? I always saw her with her phone or notebook. She never put them down.”

Marinette bit her lip.

“Yeah, but I'm hoping she backed up her data. And maybe left something, anything.”

“Alright,” Adrien said. “Let's look around.”


	17. Chapter 17

They searched together. There were a pile of papers on the table, each one covered in multiple highlights, the yellows, pinks and greens catching Marinette's attention. She flicked through them. They were profiles on each of the missing elves. There were notes scribbled in the margins. She touched one with her finger, feeling the indentation of the hastily scribbled word. _Single._

Was Alya so interested in their relationship status? Or did it mean something else?

It took a moment for Marinette to realise that these pages were photocopies of the files they kept on each elf – names, ages, home towns and what they had asked for Santa as children.

All the elves at the North Pole were originally from the 'real world' that one way or another had found their way here. Anyone who reached adulthood and still believed could find the North Pole. Sometimes they stayed for one Christmas and left again. Most stayed forever, made families here. Some had children, some didn't. Except for the magic, it really wasn't that different from the rest of the world. And even the rest of the world had magic for those who believed.

Somehow, Alya had got hold of the records and copied them. It was hardly surprising, Alya being Alya, but even so they were kept under lock and key in the armoury.

It was scary what Alya could accomplish when she put her mind to it.

Page after page, each annotated with details of their personal circumstances, what they ate the day of their disappearance, who their friends were, even how happy they seemed to be.

“Marinette! I've found something.”

Adrien stood up from behind the table.

“Here.” And he propped himself on the edge of the table next to her chair, putting a spiral notebook in front of her. “She must have dropped it,” he said as she opened the cover, reading Alya's familiar handwriting. “I found it wedged just under the filing cabinet over there.”

Marinette nodded but didn't reply, already absorbed in what Alya had written.

Underlined on the first page in large letters were the words 'follow the butterflies'.

“Follow the butterflies...” she whispered.

“What was that?” Adrien asked, leaning over to look at the notebook.

“Follow the butterflies,” she repeated, looking up at him quizzically. “What does that mean?”

“At least it wasn't 'follow the spiders'.” He shuddered. “Surely she wouldn't have put something so cryptic and nothing else?”

Marinette turned the page.

“Mm, that's all she said about butterflies. But she has put a few theories about the disappearances.”

Adrien got up from the table and walked over to the wall of pictures again, inspecting them closer.

“She's written here that she thinks their mood might have been a factor. Everyone who was taken had had a bad day. Maybe the Krampus used them being upset to lure them away? But I still don't understand how - “

“Butterflies,” Adrien muttered now, his face getting closer to the pictures. “There's something... I'm not sure...”

“What is it, Adrien?” Marinette stood too, coming to stand by his side.

“There's just,” - he pointed to one picture and another - “can you see?”

She squinted.

“I'm not sure.”

“Do you think we could look at the CCTV footage?”

Marinette nodded. “Let's go and see Max.”

* * *

“Really, Marinette, I'm very busy at the moment. I hardly have time to go trawling through CCTV for hours on end.”

She wrung her hands together.

“Please, Max, there's no one else I can ask and I think if we can see the disappearances then we might be able to solve this.”

Max frowned but rolled his chair over to the bank of monitors.

“Alright, but this is the last time. Can you give me the exact time, date and GPS coordinates?” He looked expectantly up at her, his fingers poised over the keyboard.

“Oh, ah, um... yeah.” She patted at her pockets. Dates and times were definitely in Alya's dropped notebook.

“Fifth of December, three forty-one PM,” Adrien spoke up when Marinette couldn't find it. She looked up and he had the book in hand. “You left it on the table, I thought we might need it. That was the first disappearance.”

“Alright. And where?”

“Ah, um.” He glanced back down. “The corridor west of the mess hall?”

“Hmm,” Max said, clicking the mouse and pressing keys. The monitor in front of them flashed through some images until it landed on Juleka's face. It was the exact moment she disappeared.

“Wind it back a bit please, Max.”

He complied, taking it back to when she first stood still, her head hanging. She looked... defeated, her shoulders slumped, her hair a veil covering most of her face. Marinette could still see the down turn of her mouth.

Max hit play.

It was hard to tell, the image was in black and white, but there was something across her face.

They went though each of the victims and it was the same for all of them. When it came to Nathanael, he was closer to the camera, his face pointed towards it. More clearly they could see the shape.

“A butterfly, right?” Adrien asked, leaning closer to the screen.

Marinette leaned closer too.

“I... think so?”

She sat back in her chair.

“Is this really what Alya meant though? How can we follow that?”

Adrien tapped his chin.

“Can we see if we can find Alya's disappearance? Maybe there will be some kind of clue?”

She nodded, her mouth twisting.

“I'm not sure when she disappeared though. It must have been before I sent the text, she would have seen it otherwise, for sure. She was waiting to hear about her sister, she was so worried about the attack. Max, can you check from just after the alarm going off yesterday?”

Max gave a curt nod. “Where are we looking?”

“Room three in the radio building.”

There on the screen was Marinette and Alya just sitting to listen to the radio.

“Fast forward to after I leave.”

The video wound forward, black and grey lines of static flickered, splitting the screen in half. He resumed the video as she and Adrien were leaving the room.

They all watched as Nino and Alya held each other, not moving for a few minutes. Marinette wanted to look away – the moment seemed too private – but getting to the bottom of the mystery was too important.

Nino left the room and Alya stayed put, wiping her face with her sleeve then her head snapped up.

“Wait, what was that?” Adrien said, pointing at the screen.

“What?”

“Just there, wind it back a second.”

Max did as he was asked and this time Marinette saw it too. Across the room something dark fluttered, landed on Alya and vanished, right before her head came up and the butterfly etched over her eyes.

“Another butterfly?” Marinette asked and Adrien shrugged.

“Thanks, Max,” she said. There was nothing more to see here. But then the video was still rolling. Nino came back in the room at the exact moment Alya disappeared. They watched as he ran to where she stood, desperately grasping at nothing.

A moment later, he was gone too.


	18. Chapter 18

They go back to defence because it's the only thing they can think to do. Alya had been kidnapped and so had Nino. It happened just the same as the others. Marinette knew already but it was still a shock to see.

When they get there the defence team is out on patrol but someone is waiting for them.

“Marinette, Adrien,” said Fu, his arms wide. Next to him was Gina, looking at them expectantly.

“What's going on, Uncle? Nonna?”

“Are you waiting for us?”

“We thought you might come in for some training. Your uncle Fu and I were having some tea and discussing your situation and we were thinking there may be more we can do to help.”

She took her bag off her shoulder and pulled out something small, round and spotty.

“Is that a yo-yo?” Marinette asked, cocking her head to the side.

Gina reached her arm out towards Marinette, urging her to take it.

“For a while now a team have been working on new weapons and communication devices and we had them make this for you. Go ahead, give it a go.”

Marinette looked at them uncertainly, looped her finger in and let the yo-yo fall. To her surprise it didn't spring back into her hand but stayed spinning, vibrating with energy.

“Try aiming at something,” Gina said, smiling gleefully. So Marinette did, choosing a dumbbell which had been left on the floor. The string wrapped around it and brought it flying back to her. She ducked and the dumbbell crashed into the wall behind her.

“You can also use it to climb or swing, as long as you have something to wrap around. Why don't you press this button.” She tapped her fingernail just above the centre of the yo-yo. Marinette did and it opened up.

“With this you can call people. It's also a GPS and tracker and gives you internet access.”

Marinette turned it over in her hands, impressed.

“And for you, Adrien.” She reached into her bag again, pulling out a short, metallic rod, only about thirty centimetres in length.

“Do I throw this, too?” he asked, taking it from her and inspecting it. There was a small pawprint decorating it.

She chuckled. “No. Yours is a little different. I know that you are an excellent fencer, Adrien but a foil would not have been quite so useful, I don't think, and Sabine did mention that you were quite adept with the Bo.”

Adrien nodded slowly, still looking at the object in his hands.

“This is a little small for that, though,” he said, turning it this way and that. There was a button, not unlike the one on the yo-yo and he pressed it. Immediately it extended to the length of a staff. He weighed it in his hands then gave it a practice twirl.

“Very good, young Adrien. But that is not all it does,” Fu explained now with a cheerful smile. “It will extend much further and will support your weight many times over. It has perfect balance and is almost unbreakable. And much like with Marinette's, it is a communication device and is also equipped with other technological abilities.”

He shrank it back down and clipped it to his waistband.

“Thank you for this,” Marinette said, stowing away her yo-yo. “We came to find Maman. We think we know how to find the Krampus. He's been... I don't know, hypnotising? the elves with magical butterflies and kidnapping them. Alya said to follow the butterflies and that's how we'll find him.”

Fu and Gina looked at each other and smiled. It wasn't mean but they looked sympathetically back and Marinette and Adrien.

“I think, perhaps, that Miss Cesaire was just positing theories. I don't think you will be able to find him that way. However, before your mother went on patrol they got a lead on his location. The exact address is still uncertain however they have narrowed it down to somewhere in Paris, France.”

* * *

Outside, already transformed into Ladybug and Chat Noir, they climbed onto the motorbike. Adrien gripped the handlebars and Marinette wrapped her hands around his waist.

He was thinner than she expected him to be, but then he was a model. When this was all over she would get him a whole box of macarons.

He sat stiffly, the muscles in his back tense. Pressed up against him it was impossible not to notice.

He coughed once and she saw the back of his neck and the tips of his ears were red.

“Um... shall we get going then?” he asked, looking straight ahead. She pulled out her yo-yo, bringing up the GPS coordinates for Paris.

“Ready when you are, mon Chaton,” she said, putting on her helmet. He did the same.

“R-right,” he said, gripping the handles tighter. He turned the key in the ignition. He held in the clutch and after a couple of attempts, kick-started the engine. It roared to life.

Letting go of the clutch it jumped forward, nearly throwing them off, and the engine stalled.

“I thought you said you knew how to ride a motorbike!” she shouted. Between their helmets and the wind starting to pick up it was hard to hear. Luckily, despite the skin tight quality of their hero suits, they were actually quite warm to wear.

“Well, you know,” he called back, his words almost lost, “I've played a lot of GP500 and I pretty much know the theory so... how hard could it be?”

“What?!” she practically screeched, hitting his arm. “What are we gonna do now?”

He reset the motorbike and kick-started the engine again. This time it caught straight away.

“I've definitely got it this time.”

He released the clutch and brake slowly, easing them forwards. After a bunny hop or two they were away.

Marinette screwed her eyes shut. If they were going to just crash anyway she didn't want to see it coming,.

But they didn't crash. All she could feel was the wind rushing past her and a coil of excitement tightening in her stomach. She was plastered to Adrien's back, her arms tight around him but now she opened one eye, pulling back.

They weren't flying but it sure felt like it.

“Time to get in the air. How do we – oh,I guess this.” And Adrien slammed a hand down on a big, blue button.

Immediately they were airborne and quickly the compound - so large and imposing – became a small and distant speck behind them.

Marinette navigated and the whole world sprawled out at their feet. Nothing could have prepared her for the wonder of countries outlined with shining lights against the dark and vast canopy of the ocean. Snow gave way to greener scenes the further south they headed.

If this was what it felt like to be Santa then maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing.

On they went until the yo-yo beeped, the GPS letting them know they were in France.

Adrien pressed the blue button again, gently applying the brakes and they lowered gradually to the ground.

Taking off her helmet she looked around. There was the Eiffel Tower. She had seen it before in books but she wasn't prepared for how big it was and how beautiful it would be all lit up.

Adrien got off the bike, his movements stiff. It wasn't until he took off his helmet that she realised it wasn't just from the long ride. Tension showed in the lines of his face and she followed his gaze across the Trocadero.

Whatever he was looking at she didn't see it.

But a flutter of movement did catch her eye.

“Butterfly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about motorbikes so I had to do a little research. I didn't have much time, writing a chapter a day is taking up most of it so sorry for any inaccuracies.


	19. Chapter 19

“You think we should follow it?” Adrien asked, stowing away the helmets.

“I mean,” she shrugged, “it's the only lead we have. And what are the chances there would be a real butterfly out in December? I don't think they'd survive the cold.”

Adrien nodded. “You're right. Let's follow the butterflies.”

They took the opportunity to test out their new gadgets and after a slight hiccough which resulted in them briefly tied together in Marinette's yo-yo string, they quickly got the hang of it. They didn't have far to go but they stuck to the rooftops, not wanting to be seen.

“Where did it go? Do you see it?” Marinette asked.

Adrien had stopped dead, staring blankly at a large mansion where a butterfly was just flitting through an open window.

“Is this the place?” she asked again when he didn't respond.

His face hardened.

“This is it.”

He unclipped his staff again and used it to hop the wall. She followed quickly behind.

“There's a security system so stay close,” he warned and she glanced about cautiously.

“How do you know that?”

He looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes widening.

“Oh, well, you know. With these big, rich person houses they always have state of the art security, right?”

“Oh. I guess you're right. But how do we get in?”

He nodded up to an open window – different to the one the butterfly went through.

“Up there, we just need to be careful. Hold on to me.”

She did as he said and he slowly raised them up until they were level with the second floor window. He pushed it open wider and after a furtive look around, they both stepped inside.

No alarm sounded, in fact there was no sound to be heard at all. The room was dark but Adrien walked confidently forward.

“Where do we go now? There's no butterflies here and this house is huge. The Krampus and the missing elves could be anywhere,” Marinette whispered loudly. Adrien turned his head, putting one finger to his lips and beckoned her further into the room.

She looked around, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. This was a bedroom. The large bed on the far side of the room laying testament to that. But it was filled with various entertainments. A climbing wall, skate ramps and a basketball half court barely filled half the space. A mezzanine held dozens, no, hundreds of books and there were gaming systems that made Marinette's mouth water, both classic and modern. There was even a piano!

But for all this, the room felt cold, like a showroom that nobody lived in.

The only place that held any life was the desk.

Next to the three widescreen monitors was a single, framed photograph.

She reached for it.

“Don't-” said Adrien but it was too late.

She stared at the photo silently and Adrien came to stand beside her. Her fingers tightened and she glanced at him from the side of her eye.

“She has your smile,” she said, her free hand coming up to touch his cheek, her thumb glancing the corner of his mouth.

He wasn't smiling now.

His eyes tightened.

“We don't have time for this. Let's go and find the Krampus.”

He strode out of the room and she followed.

“The house seems pretty empty,” she said, their footsteps ringing out and echoing off the walls of the corridor. Adrien walked with purpose, not stopping to open any of the doors. “Where are we going?”

Adrien didn't so much as pause.

“To my father's office. I've never been allowed in there but I think if he isn't here, it might give us some clue as to where the elves are.”

“Your fa-”

“He hasn't been the same since we lost mother. And I can only imagine the shame of having his perfect son run away. The attacks started when I got to the Pole, right? This is all my fault.”

“Adrien, no!” She grabbed his arm, stopping him in place but he wouldn't look at her. “You can't think that way. Your mother... that can't have been easy. For either of you. You're both hurting, but that doesn't excuse... this. Just because he's in pain doesn't mean he can go around hurting others. For you to come to the North Pole-”

“But I did. I left him and because of that he became the Krampus. But that means it was already a part of who he is. It's in his blood, in _my_ blood. Remember what Fu said? Just like with the Santa's, it's passed on through generations. I am... I will be...” His voice cracked and he squared his shoulders. “But I won't let him do this. I will stop him. _We_ will stop him.”

He started forward again, his pace quickening.

In the foyer, the large Christmas tree stood, perfectly uniform and without any lights on, completely devoid of joy. Marinette shivered but Adrien didn't give it a second glance going straight up to a door across the hall. He paused and Marinette put a hand on his arm.

“Adrien?”

This Adrien was one she hadn't met before. Gone were the smiles, the laughter and the wonder that sparkled in his eyes. Instead he was closed off, emotionless. Was this how he coped with his life here in Paris? Was this who he was before he came to Santa's workshop?

It made Marinette want to drag him straight back, Krampus be damned. But they had a job to do.

He opened the door to the office.

Inside it wasn't anything special. A desk with chairs, some sofas, indirect lighting and pot plants. It was stylishly modern but with a large golden painting which was unmistakably Adrien's mother.

“Do you think we might find something on the computer?” Marinette asked, already going to open the desk drawers. Adrien took a seat and unclipped his baton.

“Let's see what 'technological abilities' this thing really has.”

He pulled off one end and there was a USB connector. He plugged it into the computer and after a few clicks of the mouse he sighed.

“I can't find anything on here except for work.”

Marinette hadn't found anything in the drawers either. Then her eyes came back to the painting. It was the only thing in the room that stood out. Perhaps...

She went over to it, feeling around the edge. There was a catch and it swung open revealing a safe.

“Adrien! Do you think your technological abilities might stretch to safe cracking?”

He came over from the desk. He frowned at the keypad.

“I wonder...” And he typed a few numbers. The light flashed red.

“Do you think this is a good idea? If you don't know the pin-”

“Just one more try,” Adrien said, already typing. This time the light flashed green and the safe unlocked, the door opening to reveal some unexpected items. A guide book for Tibet, another picture of Adrien's mother, a peacock brooch and an old looking book. He reached for the book, smoothing a hand over the cover.

“Well if we weren't sure before...”

It was a book on the histories of Santa and the Krampus.

“I'm so sorry, Adrien.”

He shook his head, putting it back and closing the safe.

“It's okay. It's not your fault.”

“And it's not yours either,” she declared again, vehemently.

He looked up at the painting, his mothers smile soft and beautiful, her green eyes a mirror image of his own. Smiling, he ran a hand over the picture.

“I really miss you, Maman.”

But as he moved his hand his brows started to draw together. He went back over with his fingers.

“There's something...”

He pressed in and parts of the painting moved but nothing else happened.

“What is it?” Marinette asked, moving closer.

“There's something else with this painting but... maybe... ah!” His other hand found some more indentations. He pushed those in as well and the ground beneath their feet started to move. Slowly the sank into the floor. As they got lower, they found themselves in some kind of glass lift and sprawled out before them was a large cavern with water and plants. It was beautiful. There was a walkway lit up brightly and at the end, a huge tree.

They had found the Krampus' lair.


	20. Chapter 20

Reaching the ground they stepped off the platform, and with every step they took towards the tree, more lights came on to brighten the way.

It was huge, taller even than the Christmas tree in the foyer and the branches spread wide. It had no leaves but there were large woven baskets hanging from almost every bough.

They kept walking slowly, turning to take in the magnitude of the place which must sit under a large portion of Paris. Up in the ceiling, although it was shuttered, there appeared to be an observation window.

Could this be where the butterflies came from?

“What do you suppose is in the baskets? Do you think he's keeping the elves in there?” Marinette stared straight up, her eyes huge. If that was the case, there were more missing than she had realised.

“Only one way to find out.” He pulled out his staff, extending it to reach the first branch. Marinette did the same, wrapping her yo-yo around the tree and pulling herself up to land next to one of the baskets.

“They're sealed shut. We're going to have to cut them down,” he called across to her.

“Then we'll have to work together. If I cut them down, you catch them, alright?”

Adrien nodded, taking a swan dive before flipping and landing on his feet.

“Show off,” she grumbled but smiled despite herself.

“Ready when you are, Bugaboo.”

“Don't call me Bugaboo,” she said, cutting the rope that held the basket to the branch. It sailed down and he grabbed it, staggering under the weight but still setting it down gently.

They worked as fast as they could, cutting down basket after basket until there were only a handful left.

The sound of them working was all they could hear. The cut of the rope, the whistle as the basket fell, Adrien's grunt as he caught them and the soft thump as he put them on the ground. It was almost peaceful, the repetition soothing. Just having a goal was keeping them focussed so that at first they didn't notice that they weren't alone any more.

The quiet flutter of wings, so soft, gradually got louder. Adrien was looking up at Marinette, waiting for the next basket to drop but she stopped, her hands halfway to the rope.

“Adrien? What's that on you face?”

He brushed a hand over his cheek and a white butterfly flew away.

They were suddenly on high alert.

“He's here.”

Marinette swung down landing deftly on her feet. She smirked at Adrien but he wasn't looking at her. His senses were on high alert, his cat ears twitching on the top of his head and his eyes darting around the cavern. Every muscle was coiled like a spring and his face was tight with tension.

Out of nowhere they heard a voice. It was hard to pinpoint where it came from as it bounced from wall to wall.

“I wondered when you might come.” The voice was cold, indifferent. “I didn't expect the champions of the Great and Wonderful Santa Claus to be a couple of children. It's quite pathetic.”

Marinette stepped forwards, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of movement.

“Not that it's any of your business but we're not children. Why don't you come out and get a proper look?”

She touched her fingers to the edge of her mask. Not that it mattered if he knew her identity, but it would probably be better if Adrien stayed unrecognised.

Laughter filled the space, building as it echoed until it was all she could hear. The chill it sent down her spine rivalled that of any blizzard she had experienced at the Pole.

“So confident, are we, that you have any chance of saving your precious Christmas? Tomorrow is Christmas eve. How is production coming along with so many of the elves missing? All those children going without. How will Santa decide who the good children are that deserve to get a gift? It's about time we go back to the old ways. Naughty children should get what they deserve and finally this year I have brought back the traditions. Christmas shall be as it is supposed to be.”

Marinette stepped forward again, pivoting, her eyes still searching.

Adrien had begun to crouch down, lowering his centre of gravity and getting into a defensive stance. He had his staff in hand and extended it now in readiness.

“You underestimate the North Pole if you think anything you've done up until this point has been enough to stop every child getting a gift from Santa. And we'll make sure you don't do anything else either.” Adrien gave half a glance to Marinette then looked back out into the open space before him. “We're taking these elves home today, whether you like it or not. You might be a miserable, lonely old man but we won't let you get away with this.”

Out of the shadows a kaleidoscope of butterflies swarmed, filling the air around them. Their eyes darted about and they swatted the insects away but they weren't attacking. It did make it more difficult to see.

Then the observation window above them opened with a mechanical whirr. The moon, shining brightly on this clear night, acted like a spotlight, illuminating the figure who had stepped out.

There he stood, tall and imposing. Horns curled from the top of his head, back and around, their points sharp looking. He was covered in fur, coarse and silver and a tail whipped behind him. He had cloven hoofs like a goat and his pupils were slitted to match. When he opened his mouth he revealed sharp teeth and a long tongue. In one hand he held a switch of birch twigs.

They already knew the stories, and Marinette kept a careful eye on the twigs. It would hurt to get hit by them.

Smiling wickedly he stepped forward, his arms wide.

“Krampus,” Marinette spat, taking up a defensive stance herself.

“And what shall I call you? Not that it matters, I suppose. I'll dispose of you both soon enough. But then, I can put you both to the top of my Naughty List.”

Adrien growled.

“Not the talkative type? I prefer that anyway. Perhaps if you entertain me well enough I will add you both to my army. As you can see, I have quite a collection.” He gestured behind them at the baskets.

“Army, what do you-”

He smirked, holding out his hands, palms up. Butterflies swarmed and landed on him, each one turning from white to black and purple in front of their eyes.

“Come my little akumas, evilise them.”

They took off at once, swarming towards the baskets and disappearing inside. One by one they burst open and people stepped out, lips curled in a snarl as they turned to face Ladybug and Chat Noir.

They were just as Sabine had described, wearing garish costumes and lacking any humanity, magical energy pulsing from all of them and Marinette felt sick.

“Attack!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A collective of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope which is lovely. Not very fitting for these butterflies but still


	21. Chapter 21

They attacked together and Marinette and Adrien leaped into action. They had had barely any training together, they were outnumbered, there was little hope of their victory, but now they moved as one, as if they had always been doing this.

Above them, clouds began to form, lightning cracking across the ceiling and the room growing darker as the storm grew and obscured the observation window. The lit up tree and walkway leant enough light to see by but Marinette was struggling to adjust completely. Adrien dodged, narrowly missing being hit by a dropping anvil.

“Why do I feel like I'm in a Loony Tunes bit?” He asked as the artist sketched on his pad, manifesting a hole where Adrien had stood less than a second ago. “This all seems a bit sketchy.”

Marinette spun her yo-yo, creating a shield as a man dressed as Robocop shot at her. “Seriously, Chat. Was that a pun? Now?”

He jumped up and flipped in the air, landing on the head of an orange and blue man with a giant bubble wand. He grabbed it out of his hands and snapped it in half before he had a chance to do anything with it.

“M'lady, do you think your yo-yo might be able to do something about this?” he said, indicating the black and purple butterfly that was already making it's way back to where the Bubbler lay on the ground.

She pressed a button and spun it round, white light illuminating her face.

“It's worth a shot,” she said, throwing it and capturing the tainted insect. Another button and it was released, purified to a glowing white again.

At Adrien's feet, Nino lay unconscious.

“Nino!” he shouted, hooking his arms under his shoulders and hauling him up.

“Chat! Watch out!”

The warning came too late. Adrien was hit by a bright pink light and then he wasn't there any more. Instead there stood a figure in a dress and ruffles, pink all over and an exact copy of one of the other akuma villains. He dropped Nino, looking down at himself. Gone were the cat ears, the tail and his staff. His mirror image came at him now, and they fought hand to hand, exchanging punches.

“Do something, Ladybug!” he called out but they moved around each other and she couldn't tell one from the other. Distracted, she didn't notice the purple and black villain with three curved lines on her chest until she was stood directly in front of her, phone in hand.

They way she held it reminded Marinette of Alya.

“It's all over for you now,” she said, pressing a button on her phone and aiming it at Marinette. But nothing happened. The villain frowned. “Why isn't it working,” she cried, jabbing at her phone more insistently. Marinette tipped it towards her, looking at the screen and grinning.

“Looks like there's no wifi here,” she said and quickly snatched the phone out of her hand, dropping it to the floor and crushing it beneath her feet.

“Nooo!” Lady Wifi yelled, falling to her knees. The infected butterfly flew out of the broken phone and Marinette quickly caught it, purifying it and sending it on it's way. Alya slumped to the floor and Marinette took a moment to check she was okay before straightening back up and squaring to her next opponent.

“I'm really sorry, Alya. I'll be back for you.”

Marinette fought against villain after villain and just as she released the akuma from Rogercop's whistle, she heard Adrien shout over to her. He was back to his Chat Noir self, cocky grin included, and a black butterfly flew away from him.

“I got it!” she cried, once again cleansing the akuma and releasing it again. “Juleka!” She ran over to her, checking she wasn't harmed. All around them were the unconscious bodies of all the missing elves. Only one remained and they were reminded when a strong gust of wind knocked them off their feet and sent them flying in the air.

“Chat!” she shouted, reaching out a hand to him.

“Ladybug!” he cried back, his own arm stretching across the space between them. Their fingers just brushed and then they were sent spiralling off and slammed into the wall. They crashed to the floor, groaning from the impact.

“Are you all right?” they both said and nearly laughed but it turned to a grunt of pain. Carefully they both got back to their feet.

“I am Stormy Weather,” the girl announced, floating in the air above them holding an umbrella like a villainous Mary Poppins. “You've gotten lucky so far but I think you'll find I'm not so eas-”

She was cut off. Marinette had grabbed Adrien, swinging him around and launching him at the astonished weather girl. His feet connected with her stunned face and he back-flipped, grabbing hold of the umbrella and sailing back down to the ground. Deftly he snapped it in half over his knee.

For one last time Marinette cleansed the butterfly.

Clipping her yo-yo to her waist she smiled, relief flooding through her. She held out her fist to Adrien. “Great job, mon Chaton. Pound it.”

He smiled as well, holding out his own fist and lightly bumping them together.

They storm had died away and the silence that filled the room was deafening. Unconscious bodies littered the floor around them but they were alive and relatively unharmed.

They quiet was broken by the sound of slow, mocking applause.

They'd lost sight of him during the fight but now here he was surrounded by his butterflies and sneering at them.

“Congratulations. You have managed to defeat my akumas. Unfortunately for you, they are just a taste, merely the entrée to whet your appetite. Neither of you stand a chance against me.”

And before their eyes he grew, the claws on his hands becoming razor sharp, his switch of birch twigs extending out into a cat o' nine tails. Lazily his tongue came out and flicked at his lips and he grinned.

They prepared themselves again, yo-yo and staff at the ready. Despite being out of breath from the fighting they'd already done they nodded to each other and turned as one to face him.

Without another word he lunged forward, the sting of his whip catching them and cutting any skin it touched. They had immediately jumped back but couldn't avoid it. Marinette's sleeve was ripped, blood seeping from the narrow wound but he had caught Adrien across the face, splitting open his cheek. They pressed their hands to their cuts, panting, their eyes narrowed at the Krampus. He sneered again then attacked.

Back and forth they parried, Adrien blocking the whip with his staff but once again it curled around and sliced another bit of skin. He hissed and the Krampus laughed. He pushed Adrien away and Adrien stumbled, landing on his backside.

Marinette seethed, spinning her yo-yo and running at the Krampus. He pulled back his whip, and just as he swung it around, the full force of it aimed at Marinette, she was pushed out of the way and Adrien took the brunt of it instead. He spun across the floor and came to a stop when he crashed against the tree. Marinette looked around desperately.

“Chat!” Adrien wasn't moving. She jumped up from the floor and ran to him, checking to see if he was still alive. Her hand fluttered over him, checking for a pulse and any serious injuries. He was out cold, just like the others.

She glowered over her shoulder.

“You're gonna pay for this.”


	22. Chapter 22

Marinette rose from her crouch, hands balled in to fists. She was angry. She was afraid. She smiled.

“Gabriel,” she said, taking a step towards him. “May I call you Gabriel?” She didn't wait for him to reply.

She glanced back at Adrien but he lay there looking for all the world as though he were fast asleep.

“You see, Gabriel, you just made a fatal error. See my partner there? The one you just knocked unconscious? Well that was your mistake.” She stepped forward again, her yo-yo clasped in her fist. “Because you can hurt me, but if you hurt _him_ , then I will not stop. I will keep fighting until I have defeated you. And I _will_ defeat you. You can count on that.”

Then she flew into action. Using her yo-yo as a shield against the whip she ran forward. Every training session with her mother came to mind. Every mistake she made that had her flat out on her arse, losing her shield, losing her weapon, all of it was because she had no confidence in herself. She never thought that she could win and so she didn't. But now, she didn't need to have confidence in herself. Adrien did. Adrien trusted her to have his back. She was still afraid but mostly she knew that if she fell now it wasn't just her that would end up battered and bruised. She wouldn't be the only one to suffer. She had to fight. Fight for Adrien. Fight for the children. Fight for Christmas.

Back and forth like a dance they attacked and defended. Marinette leapt and flipped with a grace and dexterity she didn't know she was capable of.

“You're a fool, child,” he called. His face contorted angrily as again and again he lashed at her, the whip coming in too close for comfort more than once. She wouldn't come out of this fight unscathed but neither would he as she hit him again and again.

A groan sounded behind her. It was soft, almost undetectable but she heard it, her eyes darting over to Adrien once again and in that moment she let her guard down.

The whip came around her ankles and she hissed at the sharp sting and when he pulled it back towards him she crashed to the ground and cried out in pain. The wind was completely knocked out of her and her head was swimming, the room around her spinning. She fought for breath and then he was there. So much for her grand speech.

He had her. There was nowhere left for her to go. She was completely alone. Pinned to the ground he had one arm across her throat, cutting off her air. She could hear the blood pumping through her veins, the beat of it loud in her head. Gasping, she grappled with his arm but it was a steel vice. She couldn't move it. She cursed herself for making such a foolish mistake. She was always making mistakes.

Giving up on the arm she reached instead above her head where her yo-yo lay on the floor. If she could only get it then maybe...

From her vantage point she could just make out Adrien's prone body. His hand twitched. Or maybe she was just seeing things.

“Adrien...” she wheezed, black starting to creep into the edge of her vision. He twitched again.

But then the pressure on her throat eased off slightly. Or was this dying? The gradual relief from pain until there was nothing left?

She took a gasping breath. _Alive._

“Adrien!” she called again, louder this time. And now there was no mistaking it, the Krampus pulled back. His arm was still across her, it was almost impossible to move but she was no longer struggling for breath.

“Adrien,” he muttered, his eyes no longer on her but on the blonde boy by the tree. _Crap_. She had used his real name. The Krampus looked confused, his eyebrows furrowing, his slitted pupils dilating a fraction. Adrien groaned, his head rolling to the side. The gash there from earlier looked painful but at least it had stopped bleeding.

Looking between them now, an idea came to her.

“He has his mother's eyes,” she said and his head whipped down to look at her. It was almost as if he forgot she was there. “Her smile too. Such a beautiful smile, don't you think?”

Somewhere outside church bells began to ring. Their cheerful chime cut through the tension and Adrien started to stir. Midnight. It was Christmas Eve.

“You know, ever since I was a child, I've known that I will someday be Santa.” The Krampus' eyes widened and then narrowed but he didn't say anything. “I've sometimes thought about what it would be like, if I could have just been a normal girl without anybody's expectations. If I could have had a carefree childhood and done what I wanted to do with my life. I think Adrien was like that, too. And that's why he wrote a letter to Santa. He's not a child any more and still, he wrote to ask to become an elf. It was something that he wanted, free from expectation.”

He looked back over at Adrien who's eyes were starting to open now but he stayed laying still. She hoped he was listening, too.

“But I've realised now that you can't run away from your responsibilities. That doesn't mean I have to stop doing the things I love, though. Adrien, he's destined to be the Krampus some day, just like I'm destined to be Santa. Our fates are intertwined. But is _this_ what you really want for him? To be filled with hate, obsessed only with punishment, no joy in your life? Choosing this, letting your grief over your wife and losing your son dictate the kind of person you are going to be? You should have loved him more instead. Children will always need to find themselves separately from their parents. You shouldn't punish Adrien for wanting that. You need to let him go so that you can keep him. Otherwise he might never come back and you will have lost the only people in your life, forever.”

He stepped away from her now and she sat up just as the last bell chimed. Purple lights surrounded him and when they cleared there was a man stood there. He had silver hair and was impeccably dressed, his back ramrod straight. Adrien stood up as well, carefully, touching the side of his head where a lump was beginning to form.

“Father?” he said, taking a staggering step forward.

Gabriel's poker face crumbled slightly.

“Plagg, claws in.” Adrien was awash in green light. An exhausted Plagg flew over to Marinette and she held him carefully. He immediately fell asleep in her hands.

Adrien stepped forward again, limping slightly but stopped when Gabriel reached out towards him.

“How could you do this, father? I'm sorry that I can't be the perfect son that you always imagined and I'm sorry that you can't control everything and everyone in your life like you want to. I'm not you. I will never be you.”

A flash of pain went across Gabriel's face but he controlled it, the mask slipping into place once again.

“I can't let you keep hurting people. We're going to take the elves back to the Pole and Christmas will happen with _every_ child getting a gift. One day, I'll have to become the Krampus. Maybe it'll even be next year. For now, I'm going to be an elf.” His leg buckled beneath him and he staggered but he flinched away when Gabriel reached out a hand.

“One day I might forgive you. One day I might even come back home, but it isn't today.”

Gabriel stood stock still with nothing to say.

The light of the moon stuttered and Marinette dived at Adrien, knocking him out of the way as glass rained down from the smashed sky light. Ropes dropped down and a team of elves lowered themselves to the floor. They surrounded Gabriel, taking up stances.

Sabine stood facing him directly.

“Your time is up.”


	23. Chapter 23

In seconds Sabine had him pinned to the floor, his arms behind his back. She fastened a pair of handcuffs around his wrist but he wasn't resisting, just lay there looking lost and not saying anything.

Sabine looked up at Marinette from where she had her knee pressed firmly in the small of his back.

“We'll talk when we get home,” she said and Marinette had the good sense to look a little contrite. They had left the compound with no warning. But then, it was what she had been given the Miraculous for, wasn't it?

A couple of elves hauled Gabriel to his feet and carted him away. All around them the unconscious kidnapees started to stir, their quiet groans filling the air. Marinette looked around until she found Alya, just sitting up and rubbing her face, her glasses askew.

“Alya!” she cried, running up to her and throwing herself at her best friend. Alya just barely managed to catch Marinette into a hug, the both of them falling onto the floor. Across from them Nino and Adrien were having a similar reunion.

“What happened, girl? Last thing I remember was the alarm. How did we get here?” She looked around at all the people. She patted her pockets and pulled out her phone, already taking pictures. “Where are we? What _is_ this place?” She looked up. “How is there a tree in here?”

Marinette smiled. It seemed Alya was back to normal.

“Well,” she said, putting her hand on Alya's phone to get her attention. “You were kidnapped by the Krampus and this is his lair.”

“What? No way! Really?” Marinette nodded and Alya looked around again. “So where is he? Where's the Krampus?”

Marinette looked around but Gabriel had already been taken away.

“We got him, Alya. Everyone's safe now.”

“Oh man.” Alya flopped onto her back, her arms spread out beside her. “I was really hoping to get a look at him. What did he look like?” She pushed her glasses up her nose, giving her laser focus now to Marinette.

“Oh well, you know, pretty much how the stories describe him. Horns, hooves, birch twigs.”

“I can't believe I missed it. Where did he keep the elves he kidnapped?”

Marinette pointed to the baskets which were all broken and littered the floor around the base of the tree.

“You were all in those, up in the branches.” All around them army elves were starting to lead the victims out of the room, ready to take them home. Sabine came to stand next to Alya and Marinette.

“You two can catch up later,” she said, offering a hand to Alya to help her up. She took it and Marinette also got to her feet. “I need to get Alya back now.”

They finally made it out of the observation window and there on the roof in all it's glory was Santa's sleigh. In front of it stood two reindeer, stomping their hooves impatiently. There was plenty of space for everyone and attached to the back was an enclosed cell. The elves couldn't see inside.

“Is he..?” Alya asked, wide eyed but before Marinette could answer Alya was handed up into the sleigh. Nino was already there waiting for her as was Juleka, Nathanael and all the others who's faces were pinned up at the radio station. There were hugs and tears all round as they were reunited.

Sabine stood now between the sleigh and Adrien and Marinette.

“Well then, you two. I imagine you can find your own way back? We only have enough room for these lot,” she indicated the group of elves behind her with a tilt of her head. “And you seem to have got here just fine.”

She climbed into the sleigh and grabbed the reins.

“No detours now. I need you to head straight home. There's lots to do and time is running out.”

Turning to face the reindeer she shook the reins and they stood to attention.

“Oh and Adrien, Marinette? Good job. I'll see you at home.” And with a _dash away all_ they were gone, leaving the two of them in the middle of Paris alone.

Marinette shivered. Tikki and Plagg were completely out of it and she hadn't dressed for the cold weather. Adrien wrapped one arm around her shoulders and she leaned into his warmth.

“It's gonna be a cold ride back to the Pole,” he said, looking up at the sky where grey clouds were accumulating, soft white flakes beginning to fall. “This weather really is _snow_ joke!”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.

“I noticed this earlier, but you really do like bad puns, huh?”

Adrien smiled. “Hey now, there's _snow_ need to give me the cold shoulder. Chill out. Why don't _ice_ see if there's anything in the house we can wear.”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“If it wasn't so cold out here I would not put up with this but I really do need a coat so that is the only reason I am following you.”

“Cool beans,” he quipped and she hit him on the arm. He smiled at her again then turned to face the front door. She took his hand and he squeezed it and they went in.

It didn't take long to find what they needed. The house was filled with designer clothes including a full range of winter wear. They donned faux fur coats over thermals and thick, lined boots and when Adrien stepped out of the bathroom as though it was the pages of a magazine.

She blushed, hoping he'd put it down to her being too warm.

Back at the base of the Eiffel tower the bike was still where they left it.

“Think you can get us home, mon Chaton?” she asked him, taking the helmets out of the storage box and handing him his. He took it and shot her a cocky grin.

“Snow place like it.” And he laughed as she groaned.

He kick-started the engine and she held on tight and together they flew back to the North Pole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has enjoyed my story so far and especially those who have commented. You have no idea how happy it makes me. I just wanted to wish you all a very happy Christmas eve eve!


	24. Chapter 24

It was very early Christmas eve when they got back. All the elves that had been kidnapped were in the infirmary getting checked over. When Marinette and Adrien landed, Sabine was already waiting for them, a sheepish Fu and Gina behind her. She stood with her arms crossed.

“I'm sure you can imagine what an ordeal you have put myself and you father through tonight?” she asked and Marinette bit her lip. “To get back from patrol and find you both missing. No note, nothing. What if the Krampus had got you?”

Marinette and Adrien both hung their heads. Fu cleared his throat.

“I understand that you were worried, my dear but these were desperate times. The clock was running out. It is difficult to see our own children in this way. Marinette is a grown woman, capable of making decisions. She had to go.”

Sabine whirled to face him.

“She could have said! To leave without telling us...”

“You're right,” Adrien said, walking up to her and placing a hand on her arm. “We should never have left without telling you we were going. I'm sorry that your daughter was in danger. It's my fault.”

“No, Adrien!” Marinette exclaimed.

Sabine took his arm, pulling him towards her and wrapping him in a hug.

“I was worried for you, too, Adrien. I was so scared you would be hurt, that we wouldn't be able to find you, that we would be too late.”

“But we did it, Maman.”

Sabine looked up at Marinette, her eyes showing her pain although her mouth was smiling. She reached out her arm, not letting Adrien go and pulled Marinette into their hug.

“You did. You did amazingly, my love. Both of you. And now you are home.”

They stood like that for a few moments. Sabine heaved a sigh, squeezing them tight and then letting them go.

“You both need to go to the infirmary to get checked over.”

Marinette was about to protest but then Adrien's face caught her eye, the cut still an angry red. He was favouring a leg as well.

“We'll go there straight away,” she agreed, putting an arm around Adrien's waist and encouraging him to lean on her. He pinkened but accepted her help.

As they walked slowly away Fu came to stand next to Sabine.

“She has grown up to be a wonderful woman,” he said, watching the two of them walk away. Sabine looked at him, her brow puckered. Then her features smoothed and she smiled, looking back at the pair.

“You're right, Uncle. She has.”

* * *

After everyone had been checked over – Adrien having sustained the worst of the injuries and being confined to bed rest – it was all hands on deck again to make sure the toys would be ready. They redoubled their efforts. The elves who had been missing had spent the majority of the time in the baskets, induced to sleep. They were well rested and raring to go.

Marinette got stuck in, darting from department to department, ensuring that everything was running smoothly. She should be exhausted. She had been on the go now for the better part of twenty-four hours. But with a steady supply of coffee and the excitement of Christmas on the horizon she found her second wind. When it was all over she would surely crash but for now, she ploughed ahead, ensuring operations were at maximum efficiency.

The hours raced by, elves only stopping for a bite to eat and toilet breaks, the huge digital clock on the wall ticking down until there was only minutes left. Hands moved faster than she had seen them and in the end, every elf that could was in wrapping, ensuring that every ribbon was tied perfectly.

There was less than a minute left when the final bow was tied with a flourish. All eyes turned to the clock, the final seconds ticking by and the last of the presents was loaded on to the sleigh.

It started with a small group but soon every elf was counting down to zero when Santa would need to set off to ensure every present was delivered in time. The collective voice was loud and Marinette could feel it reverberating inside her chest. She joined it.

_Five... four... three... TWO... ONE!_

As one, the reindeer stomped their hooves and started forward, pulling the sleigh and then taking to the air. A cheer went up, elves jumping and waving, clapping and stomping their feet. This continued well past the time that Santa was out of sight.

The celebrations continued, small groups breaking off to enjoy their own celebrations, or to just go home to bed. Marinette rolled her shoulders, the last day, no, the last month, finally catching up with her.

She waved to Alya who was wrapped around Nino, both of them dancing. The whole area had turned into one large party. Alya waved back, her smile filling her whole face. Marinette took a moment to take everything in. All the people who had worked so hard to make Christmas happen, who had gone short staffed, who had gone with less sleep, who had worked their fingers to the bone to get everything done in time and she felt proud to be there, to be one of them. Smiling to herself she walked away.

In the infirmary, Adrien was just waking up. After they had bandaged his leg and checked him for concussion he was left to rest and had quickly fallen asleep. When Marinette got there a nurse was just checking his head, a clipboard in his hands. While he questioned Adrien about nausea and headaches, she stood patiently to one side. Satisfied, the nurse moved away and Marinette perched herself on the side of his bed.

“We did it,” she said. “We saved Christmas and Santa is delivering presents as we speak.”

Adrien gave her a weak smile and the corner of her mouth lifted sympathetically.

“So, what's the verdict?” she asked, putting a hand on his knee. He flinched and she jumped away, flailing. “I'm so so sorry! Was that your bad leg? Oh my God, I'm so sorry!”

“Marinette it's fine, don't worry. I'm fine,” he assured her, patting the bed again so she would sit back down. She sat gingerly, eyeing his legs under the blanket. “The doctor said I might have a concussion so they want me to stay in for tonight for observation. A couple of cuts and bruises, nothing to worry about.”

She sighed, placing a hand over her heart. “Thank goodness. I've been wanting to check on you all day but we've been so busy.”

Adrien nodded.

“How was it? I wanted to help...”

“I know. It was good. We really went down to the wire but Santa's out there now.”

He nodded again, closing his eyes, a sigh heaving his chest.

“It's been a long day. You need sleep. And so do I. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I went. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Adrien.”

And she left him, went back to her house and was out cold for the next twenty hours.


	25. Chapter 25

T'was the night after Christmas

when in the North Pole

The elves were all sleeping;

work had taken it's toll.

All the stockings were empty

The gifts all unwrapped

The dinners were eaten

The grandpas had napped.

The reindeer were nestled

all snug in their beds

while visions of carrots

danced in their heads.

But up on the rooftop

Under one shining star

was a raven haired hero

and her partner, Chat Noir.

Since returning to the compound with the missing elves in the small hours of Christmas eve there had been no time for rest. After all the toys had been finished, wrapped and the deliveries had finally been made, and after Adrien and Marinette had slept away most of Christmas day, the Dupain-Cheng's sat down to Christmas dinner, and that, of course, included Adrien.

“After everything you've done for us – for Christmas!- I consider you a part of the family, son. I insist you join us.”

So with tears pricking behind his eyes, Adrien joined them for the family meal.

Which brings us to now, up on the roof, snow glowing softly under the light of the moon being the only illumination Marinette and Adrien needed to see by.

As if by a silent agreement they found each other here in the most unlikely of places. But then, it was Christmas, a time for magic, mystery, miracles and overlooking plot holes.

Marinette was there already when Adrien arrived. She turned her head to smile at him as he approached wearing the ugliest Christmas jumper she had ever seen. A cat in a Santa hat covered most of the front and as he sat she saw an actual tail swing behind him.

“Miaow-ry Christmas?” she giggled, cheeks flushed from the cold. Adrien tried to act offended but couldn't.

“I think you'll find that cats are very much the in thing this year,” he quipped, smiling along with her. The last few days had been stressful and exhausting and it was nice to be this way – to laugh and to joke – after everything.

Marinette pulled out a thermos and poured him a hot chocolate. He took it gratefully.

They sat side by side in quiet companionship for a while, just sipping hot chocolate, clouds puffing out with every breath. Marinette bit her lip, stealing a glance at him from the side of her eye.

“So... that was your Dad, huh?”

Adrien closed his eyes, leaning back on one hand. Bathed in the moonlight he glowed softly.

“When mother disappeared it was hard. We grieved together at first. But then he started shutting himself away. I would go days at a time without seeing him. But then he started keeping me shut away as well. He said that the world was too dangerous and he couldn't lose me as well.

I started getting home schooled but I was already in my last year of high school so that didn't last long so he found other reasons to keep me in the house. When I started modelling for him I would sometimes get obsessive fan mail. It was safer for me to stay at home. I couldn't understand it, I still don't understand it. If he was so worried about losing me, why did I never see him? What was the point of keeping me locked up?”

Marinette didn't say anything, she just listened as he poured his heart out to her.

His face set.

“I don't know what's going to happen in the future but if I'm going to be Krampus then I'm going to need your help, Marinette. I don't want to be... I'm not, I'm not _him_ , you know? I want to be able to do everything I can to help the goodness in children, not punish the bad.”

There was never any doubt in her heart that Adrien would want to do what was best for the children. At his core, Adrien was goodness and that came out in everything he did.

“Of course, Adrien. We're Ladybug and Chat Noir, Santa and the Krampus. We can work this out together. We're a team, aren't we?”

He grinned at her and it creased around his eyes in a way that tugged at her heart.

“Partners,” he agreed. “Coming here was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Nino, Alya, you,” he looked over to her, his eyes softening. “I'm so glad that I got to meet you, Marinette. You have become such an important person to me. You really are a wonderful friend.”

“Friend...” she repeated. That's what they were. Partners and friends.

“Hmm?” He looked at her, smiling softly.

She pressed her lips together. The corner of her mouth pulled up into a smile. “I'm glad we're friends, too.”

He was watching her now, his eyes not leaving hers. It was hard to look at him. His hand came up and cupped her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek.

“You're cold,” he murmured and shuffled closer to her so that their sides were pressed together. Her face immediately flamed, chasing the cold away.

“You're beautiful,” he whispered into her hair and Marinette almost thought she imagined his words. She leaned away from him, and looked at him wide-eyed. He chuckled and took one of her gloved hands into his, bringing it up and pressing his lips to her knuckles. “This may seem...” He bit his lip and glanced away. He inhaled deeply then looked into her eyes. “I like you, Marinette.”

She stared at him dumbly, her eyes slowly widening.

“I-I-I thought you only thought of me as-as a friend..?” she stammered, her cheeks flaming even hotter.

His own cheeks were dusted an attractive pink.

“Well, we are friends... but I was hoping that maybe we could be something more? I understand if it's something you don-”

“I do!” she exclaimed. “I... I would like that.”

He beamed.

“I really, really like you, Marinette.”

Something inside of her slid in to place. There were many things that made Marinette who she was. Her creativity, her tenacity, her friends, her family, being Santa, being Ladybug. Adrien was another part of her that made the whole better, brighter. Maybe they were destined, two halves that completed each other. Maybe they weren't. But it didn't matter. The Marinette that was sat on that snowy rooftop knew that she would choose this Adrien who had come to mean so much to her.

“I like you, too, Adrien.”

And from that confession

on their roof-tiled seat

The pair shared a kiss

that was tender and sweet

And so ends our tale

It's the end, au revoir.

A merry Christmas to you

from Ladybug and Chat Noir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is still (just) Christmas here and I hope that wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, you have managed to find a little joy today. For all of you who have read and enjoyed my story, thank you, and if any of you wanted to give me a present this year, a review would absolutely make my 2020.   
> Here's to a better 2021


End file.
